The Diary
by IcyNirvana
Summary: As Luna found out her father has been killed, she longed for one thing: To catch the murderer. But, for some reason, her butler and friend, Arno, told her to befriend the murderer and bring him back safely. What will become of her journey towards the future?
1. Chapter 1

**Spice and Wolf OST :** **Ringo Biyori ~ The Wolf Whistling Song ;3**

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At first, there was nothing. A senseless, dreamless, restless void. Of nothing, I heard a sound. Goody, I have ears. I heard more sounds, some loud, some quiet; some frantic, some calming. I suddenly found that I can move, and open my eyes. No more was the darkness, instead my sight filled with a vivid, cream light. I saw part of my body, my red-tipped paws and my smoky-grey tail. I looked around wondrously and saw walls around me; thin, cream walls keeping me in. I pushed against it once, but it did not seem to do anything at all. Perhaps it is not as flimsy as I thought.

I felt the sudden urge to get out of the confined space so I pushed against the wall once again. This time, I felt the entire space tilt slightly before righting itself again. Annoyed, I rammed my body against the wall with all the strength I could muster. The wall gave away and I fell onto something hard. The harsh light burned my eyes and the atmosphere overloaded my senses.

Through all the chaos of the situation, I saw two beings in front of me. One a pink, floating, feline-like being with giant, blue eyes gleaming with happiness and a long, long tail with a slightly thicker tip. The other, a greyish vulpine being with ruby red eyes that seem sleepy. I felt naturally drawn to the fox, seeing as he also had a smoky-grey tail like me and red-tipped paws. I looked just like him, albeit a little smaller. Three words came to mind as I saw them _mother, father, parents_.

I looked around and the next person I saw looked very similar to mother, a pink feline. However, this one was not floating and was distinguishably smaller. It also had a long tail with a bulbous tip like my mother but it had a greyish tint towards the tip. It was also looking around. Then our eyes locked onto each other and another word popped into my mind: _brother_.

I looked back at my parents. _Hello!_ Was what I wanted to say, but all that came out was a squeal. This caused a bustling reaction, which prompted me to notice the crowd of giant beings all around me. I love the attention I am getting and smiled as much as I could. I then saw my parents say something, but all I caught were two words: _Luna_ and _Cloud_. Those two words resounded in my new ears, especially _Luna_. I guess that's my name now. Luna… I like it, it sounds beautiful and mystical, if anything.

Everything after that was a blur. I remember feeling a weird sensation like flying through the air and suddenly I was in a large room, though smaller than the first one that had all the bright lights and crowd. The lights were, to my delight, off. The room illuminated by only the evening sunlight, which streaked pass the curtains. The room itself was painted a sky blue with streaks of grey, creating a queer ambience that I cannot really describe. It looked like a sky just after a storm, with dark clouds parting, I think. The room also had a large bed and two doors, one leading to a washroom and the other into a particularly long hallway. I dared not venture out for fear of getting lost.

Both my brother and I was treated and pampered. Our parents were very nice and kind. Very kind indeed, anything we wanted, they would get for us, if we can convey the need, of course. We also met a Floatzel (a large, orange, bipedal weasel) named Aqua, who was Daddy's twin brother and thus, our uncle. Rest came after food. Cloud and I were laid down on the large bed and Mommy sung to us until I felt drowsy and fell into the mystical realm of sleep.

I awoke to the sound of the door slamming shut. Sitting up groggily, I saw a bipedal, black and blue… fox thing, along with a tiny, brown fox with my daddy. Daddy was glaring heatedly at the being that kind of looks like a fox, but not like a fox. That didn't make any sense at all, did it?

"Chrome!" Daddy hissed.

"Sorry, Pyro! I didn't know that the door shuts on its own!" the fox-like thing, Chrome, whispered back. I giggled at the sight. So Daddy's name was Pyro, that sounds cool.

"You woke her, Chrome," the little brown fox said. I jumped down and walked over. Only when I was near did I realise that the brown fox was still bigger than me.

"Hi!" I said, surprising myself. Seems like I can talk now, how delightful.

"You can talk now!" Daddy's mood switched from annoyance to pride in the blink of an eye. His eyes shone with delight as he looked at me.

"Hello there, little Luna," Chrome said before bending over to pet me on the head. I smiled at the pleasant sensation before noticing that Cloud has woken up.

"Lu- Luna?" he spoke, having a little difficulty with his pronunciation. He walked over to the edge of the bed before tripping. Luckily, Daddy was there in an instant and caught my brother on his back. Daddy then closed his eyes for a while, to the point that I thought he fell asleep. But then Mommy came into the room, floating as always.

"Come with Mommy, Cloud, come," she said, picking him up, "I'm going to teach you how to fly so you don't trip again, okay?" Cloud nodded in return and clutched onto her tightly as he was carried out.

"Thanks, Mew." I heard my dad say quietly and she nodded. And my mother's name is Mew, hmm… I think her species' name is 'Mew' too. Slightly peculiar…

"Can't I fly too, Daddy?" I spoke up. Chrome gave a loud, bark-like laughed spontaneously, making me jump slightly in surprise. The fox slapped him on the leg, for he could not reach higher.

"No, Luna. You're not the same as Cloud, you can't really fly," my father said as he brushed up near me. My ears flatten as I look down, disappointed that my brother can fly and I can't. In the background I could hear the fox berating Chrome.

"Aw come on now, Luna. Don't worry. Maybe someday you will be able to fly! But think of it like this, you can run faster than him and do many things he may not be able to do easily!" Daddy consoled me. I nodded and smiled, before looking back at the duo, seeing the fox starting to tackle Chrome, the latter laughing.

"Don't mind Elric and Chrome. They're just playful like that, I think." He looked at them too, watching their squabble. Chrome then opened the door and sprinted out, still laughing, while Elric shouted and followed. "So… how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Daddy," I replied, smiling up to him. The door opened again. My, there's quite a lot of visitors today. A weasel-like pokemon came in timidly.

"Y-you called?"

"Ah, you're here!" Daddy went over to him. I, seeing nothing to do, also went over. I looked the newcomer over. Everyone else, except Cloud, was bigger than me. But this one was about the same size as me, his body's just a little longer, but that's just his body structure, I think.

"Why are you so small, weasel?" I asked. I didn't know what was his name so I called him by the animal he looked like. His expression turned to one of shock, jaw dropping, while Daddy burst out laughing.

"Teasing your brother right off the bat?" Daddy asked, still laughing.

"Brother? I thought Cloud…" I was confused. The word _brother_ didn't pop up in my mind when I looked at the weasel, unlike with Cloud.

"Well… Step-brother. His name's Vulcan, he's a Quilava, and he's older than you, so give him some respect, yeah?" he said to me, whispering the last bit.

"Vulcan?" I repeated. His name snapped him out of his shocked state.

"Yeah, I'm Vulcan. What's your name, itty-bitty fox?" he asked, grinning mischievously and ruffling up the fur on my head. I saw that my fur is now messed up from the wall-mirror on one side of the room and frowned.

"Don't mess up my fur and don't. Call. Me. Itty-bitty!" I growled and went to bite his leg but he pulled back his limb before I could reach it. Shame. He laughed at me while I glowered at him.

"Now, now, Vulcan. Don't go teasing Luna too much. She's still small- Uh, I mean young," my dad corrected himself after seeing me shift my glare to him for a moment. Daddy and Vulcan showed me around our home next. We walked from room to room to room to- you guessed it- more rooms. There's so many rooms and sections to the house I stopped counting. I really hope I can remember them after this. We also went to check on Cloud, who was with Mommy. They were both in her room, which was as large as, if not larger than the room I woke up in. Cloud was hovering happily on the spot but was a bit unsteady once he tried moving in a direction. Mommy was there to support him and helped him out every once in a while when he seemed like he was going to fall.

I, seeing Daddy going to help Cloud, wandered out the room to explore a bit more. I was confident that I wouldn't get lost in this maze of a house, not too lost anyways. The hallways are large and long, with some decorations here and there so not to make it seem bare. I soon saw a doorway off to my right with no door. What a weird thing, a doorway without a door. I went through it and noticed myself in a closed-off, square room lit by one, bright light. The room, unlike others, was not large at all. In fact, I can walk from one side to the other in less than three seconds.

The room was filled with photographs and paintings. Attached to the wall or hanging in frames were the artwork, filling the wall space of the room. I walked around, looking at the ones nearer to the ground as I did not want to strain my neck trying to look up at the ones high above. Most of the photos show Uncle Aqua with Daddy. One showed them on a beach, Daddy laughing happily while uncle Aqua seemed to be flustered and out of breath. Another showed them with another pokemon, a pink and white fox, it seems, with two bows, one at the base of its left ear and one on its neck; there were flowing ribbons attached to both the bows. The pink fox looked beautiful. Underneath that picture, I saw some writing: _Pyro, Aqua, Sylvy_. So her name is Sylvy, I have yet to see her. Oh wait, I think I saw her when I hatched, but not since then.

I then saw a painting that was larger than the rest, it was framed and hung in the middle of the back wall. This one, unlike others, showed two pokemon that I've never met, seen or heard of before. Both of them looked like my mother, Mew, but their colours were different. One had entirely black fur and bright, ruby-eyes that reminded me of Daddy's. The other had entirely white fur and golden eyes that shone just like Uncle Aqua's. The eye colour similarities led me to believe that they were related to Daddy and Uncle. In the background is the mansion that I think we were in.

The black Mew was depicted having a slight frown on its face, floating with its arm crossed and looking slightly off to the side. The white one, in contrast, had a bright smile on its face and was floating happily near the other, as if trying to cheer it up. The painting was so surreal that I couldn't help myself staring at it.

"Do you like it?" I heard from behind me. I whipped around to see a large, regal, black-and-orange canine. The majestic canine bowed quickly before standing up straight again.

"Wh-who are you?" I faltered, slightly intimidated.

"I am Arno von Augustus, head butler of the Great Manor."

"O-oh… 'Head butler'? So you're in charge of others?" I inquired further, intrigued. Our family has many butlers?

"Yes I am. So, do you like the painting?" He smiled.

"Yeah, who are they though?" His smile turned into a confused frown,

"Didn't Master Pyro or Mistress Mew tell-" He was cut off when Daddy burst into the room.

"Ah, here you are! I thought you got lost, Luna!" he exclaimed, trotting up to me. Arno bowed to Pyro.

"Would you like a cup of tea or coffee, Master Pyro?"

"No, but thanks, Arno," he replied. Arno backed out of the room and padded off somewhere else.

"Daddy, what's this room for?" I asked him. I see no use for the room, just a room of pictures and photos.

"Your uncle, Aqua, and I built this room. We took photos and collected the paintings others drew for us. We also tried our hand in painting but found out we're not so good at it," he chuckled. "Anyways, this room is pretty much where our memories reside. Photos to remember occasions, to remember people we meet, to remember the good times we had. It's just for nostalgia. You'll definitely be added to the room too, one of the best, happiest memory I have."

"There'll be a picture of me added to this room?! Really?" I asked, excited for reasons unknown.

"Of course, sweetie," he replied endearingly. Just then, Cloud and Mommy floated into the room.

"Luna! Look, I can fly now- Whoa… What's this room?" Cloud stopped mid-air to look around the small room in wonder.

"Pyro? What _is_ this room? I've never seen it before…"

"Aqua and I built it. Serves no purpose, really, other than to look back at memories," he explained, to them this time.

"Daddy, who's that?" I took the chance to ask, pointing to the pink-and-white fox in the picture.

"That's Sylvy," both Daddy and Mommy replied.

"She's a Sylveon and a very, very close friend of us, you'll meet her when she comes around. Soon, I think," he continued. "But enough of that, let's get something to eat, shall we? I would imagine that you would be hungry." He laughed slightly when my stomach decided it was a good time to voice its presence, or rather, the absence of food in it.

We, once again, walked through the maze of hallways to a room that had a big, long table with chairs around it. The dining room. The instant we sat down, a giant panda-like pokemon with a green, leafed shoot sticking out of his mouth made a move to come over to us, I suspect he was one of the butlers under mister Arno's command. But then a bipedal fox, not like Chrome, carrying a stick that was on fire, came out of another door. It had large ears with lots of fur sticking out of it. Even larger was the yellow tail sticking out. From the waist down, its fur was a crimson red while its upper body was mainly yellow. It pushed the panda away and once it reached us, it bowed rather quickly,

"Lord Pyro! Lady Mew! You have not told me you were going to have a meal now! It is shameful for me not to have anything prepared for both of you!" it- no, _she_ \- exclaimed. I shivered slightly, her voice was steely and monotonous, very unnatural. "Please tell me what you wish to have for today and I will do my best to prepare it as quickly as possible!"

"Oh, I don't know really. How about you decide for me?" Daddy answered.

"Same goes for me," Mommy agreed. The fox shook her head,

"My opinion is irrelevant and my choice of food would be inferior to your standards. You should not ask a lowly cook like me for decisions of importance like this." She bowed her head as she spoke.

"N-no, no. The decision isn't all that important, is it? Anyways, I'll have something light to eat then, a sandwich, perhaps? Same goes for Mew." He looked awkward, shuffling in his seat.

"And what would you like?" I jumped slightly as she turned towards Cloud and I.

"Um… I'll have whatever Daddy's having please. A-and some milk, if you have it, please," I replied, after getting over the slight fear. That emotionless voice is seriously starting to scare me.

"I'll have some… Fish! If you have some, that is," Cloud answered excitedly. The fox bowed and retreated back to the door she came from, slamming it shut.

"Daddy, who was that?" I asked, curious as to why he would have such a scary pokemon in the house.

"That was Chef Blair. A Delphox. She's one of the best cooks we've ever heard of, her reputation spreads far throughout the lands. We've heard some pokemon say ' _You've never lived until you've eaten Blair's food'_. Though she could do with some more social skills, methinks." I nodded in reply and waited for our food.

Needless to say, the food was fantastic. My mouth watered from the first scent and let me tell you, the taste did not disappoint me in the least!

Just after I had taken the last bite of my food (and savouring it), I heard someone call from outside. Nobody reacted to it so I assumed that they didn't hear it or they didn't care. I, myself, could not contain my curiosity and so excused myself from the table.

"Try not to get lost," Daddy told me jokingly. I nodded and left the room. As soon as the door shut behind me, blocking out the noise of the conversation, I heard Uncle Aqua talking to someone. I decided to trust my ears and follow it, letting it guide me through the maze of hallways.

I reached a corner in the hallway and heard Uncle Aqua around it. I peeked around the corner and saw a bizarre sight.

Uncle Aqua was sat next to the pink-and-white fox from the picture, Sylvy. They were doing something which I never saw before. Their mouths were connected! Both of them had their eyes closed and seemed at peace, Uncle Aqua caressing Auntie Sylvy's face lightly while they remained connected like that for a while. I, not knowing what was going on, decided not to interrupt them since they looked totally engrossed in whatever they were doing.

I backed away and trotted back to Daddy, following my instincts this time. He announced that it was time for bed. He escorted Cloud and I back to our room, the sky-blue with grey streaks one, and laid us down on our bed. He then left, only for Mommy to come floating in. Cloud slowly drifted off while she sung the lullaby but I merely grew slightly drowsy. As she was about to leave, I asked her about what I saw earlier involving Uncle Aqua and Auntie Sylvy. She just looked shocked for a second before replying,

"Your daddy and I will tell you when the time is right, Luna. Now sleep. You must rest."

I wondered what would happen tomorrow. And why was Mommy so surprised about what Uncle Aqua and Auntie Sylvy? Soon, I felt a wave of drowsiness wash over me like a wave. I closed my eyes and gave in to the welcoming embrace of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Play song: Roaring Tides – Clannad OST**

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It all started when Mommy cried.

We've never seen Mommy, or Daddy, cried before. That was the first time. We heard uncle Aqua shout something and saw Daddy ran out of our room. We didn't know anything so we followed. It was scary, like something was going to pop out from every corner we turn.

At the corner that led to the entrance hall, we poked our heads out. It was then. We saw Mommy crying and Daddy consoling her. She glanced at us. We, even without her psychic communication, knew that she didn't want us to see this, so we left quickly.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Things went from bad to worse, I think. For some reason, Auntie Sylvy never appeared anymore; Uncle Aqua kept on attacking Mommy; And Daddy always seemed sad and concerned. Every time Cloud or I tried to ask what was going on, whoever answered always changed the subject and acted all happy and stuff.

We couldn't do anything, so we kinda pretended that nothing was wrong and lived happily. But then, one day, Mommy came up to us.

"Luna, Cloud. Something happened," she said, sobbing slightly. I didn't like to see her like that and instinctively nuzzled her. She smiled a little and I felt happy to have made her feel better.

"What is it, mother?" Cloud asked and we both looked at her expectantly. We were finally going to get some kind of information on what was going on around us.

"Your father… He… He's sick." She looked down as tears trickle down her face again. We could tell instantly that there was more than what she said. Daddy was not just 'sick', it was something worse.

"C-can we see him?" I asked. Surely it can't be that bad, can it? I'm probably just overthinking things and perhaps he's just caught a cold or something. I caught a cold once, it was both awesome and boring. I was told to stay in bed all the time, which I couldn't really stand at all. But at the same time, Mommy and Daddy were very kind and pampered me throughout.

"Sure. Hold on to Mommy." We nodded and held onto her paws. This was the second time that I felt the weird sensation of flying through the air. I finally learnt later on that it was teleportation, where Mommy can move from one place to another instantly. It was cool, but a shame as I couldn't do it myself, nor is it possible that I will be able to.

I found myself in a big, big white room. It was huge! There were two rows of little 'cubicles', so to say, running along the length of the room. Each cubicle was still large and was made to resemble some kind of bedroom, albeit smaller than ones at my home. I saw Daddy lying in one the beds in a cubicle. He was motionless but at least I can see that he was still breathing. Lots of wires connected him to machines I've never seen or heard of before, it was a bizarre sight, if you ask me.

A large bandage was wrapped around his tummy and back. And though I said he was breathing, it sounded like every breath was his last. Wheezing and rattling, I never knew someone could breath and make a sound like that.

"Daddy?" I whispered, then louder, "Daddy?" Respond he did not. It was weird for me since he always responded to me, even if he was sleeping he would wake up at my voice. "Mommy, what's wrong with Daddy?" I asked, looking towards her.

"A… Auntie Sylvy, Uncle Aqua and I will explain to you later," she replied, looking very guilty. I could only deduce that whatever happened, did so between the three of them.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The next day, we got to speak to Daddy.

"Father, what happened to you?" Cloud asked, his eyes still wide with bewilderment. I am surprised, too, like him. We thought Daddy was the coolest, strongest and kindest pokemon around. What could possibly have made him worse for wear like this?

"Well… I fought with Aqua, that's all. Nothing to worry about." While he said that, I thought he sounded… Fake? Like he didn't mean what he was saying.

"You fought with Uncle Aqua?" I asked, sceptical. I thought Daddy and Uncle were best buddies and happy with each other all the time.

"Yes. It was nothing, don't worry about it." We talked a bit more, about how I went outside and found a friend, Ren. He was a Shinx and he was _cool_! The whole time I can't help but notice, Daddy hasn't moved his body at all. I tried to raise the question once but he interrupted me quickly by asking about my day. I must find out about this.

"Daddy, can you come over here?" I asked, looking straight at him. I saw his eyes widened for a second.

"Uh… Daddy's very tired right now, sweetie."

"I knew it!" I exclaimed, earning a weird look from Cloud.

"What do you know?" he asked, curious.

"Daddy can't move! He can't move anything but his head!" I shouted. He visibly flinched and it was then that Mommy came into the room. She hastily grabbed hold of us and teleported us back to our blue-grey room.

"Mother, what is wrong with Father?" Cloud asked, determined to find out what had really happened.

"It's nothing, he's sick!" she insisted, but we won't have any of that, will we, Cloud?

"Mother, please. What is really wrong with him?" Atta boy, Cloud! There's my brother! Mommy sighed and looked dejected.

"Fine, you two are more observant than is good for both of you. I'll tell you everything." She sat us down on Cloud's bed and told us the story.

"Mommy did something bad. Something very bad, and Sylvy got hurt because of me. Now, Aqua loves Sylvy very, very much, a lot like how I love your father. Aqua got angry at me and we argued. I was being selfish and thought that it was not my fault that Sylvy got hurt. He attacked me because of his anger, but now that I look back, he had every reason to.

"Pyro, your father, didn't like us fighting so he tried to find a way to stop us. Since telling Aqua would not really do anything, he tried a more desperate tactic. He disguised himself as me and went up to Aqua. Aqua thought he was me and attacked him. By the time I got there, Pyro was injured very badly. But it's nothing to worry about."

"Why did Daddy think that he will be able to stop you fighting by disguising as you?" I asked, utterly confused. She shook her head,

"It is not something you'll really understand right now but I can tell you that it worked. Mommy and Uncle Aqua stopped fighting now.

" _How_ did Daddy disguise himself as you?" Cloud asked. Mommy laughed slightly and patted both our heads.

"His species, like Luna's, allows him to create illusions that tricks a pokemon's eyes. But Cloud, our species can transform, not create illusions, sometimes more useful but other times not," she replied. "Now, I think it's time for both of you to go to bed. It's late." She tucked us in, sung us a lullaby, and then left the room, turning off the lights. Cloud, as usual, had already fell asleep from the lullaby. I haven't, though, and thought about what Mommy told us.

She did something bad? What could she probably have done to make kind Uncle Aqua attack her? And why can't Daddy move? So many thoughts were running around in my head. Maybe I could discuss them with Arno tomorrow.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The next day, I went to Arno right after breakfast (served to me by the scary chef, Blaire). I found him cleaning Daddy's room on his own.

"Oh, hello there Luna!" he greeted when he saw me.

"Hi Arno!" We've become pretty friendly towards each other. Did I mention he's pretty cool? Because, if not, he's pretty cool! He's also fun to talk to, and always have stories to tell when I wanted to be told one.

"Arno, can I ask you a question?"

"Go on," he replied, cleaning the room at the same time.

"Why can't Daddy move?" He froze up instantly, the duster in his mouth dropping in surprise. It was a few moments before he slowly bent down to pick up the duster again.

"Wh-why do you ask that?" he slowly said, stretching out the words as if taking the time to consider what to say next.

"Arno..." I said threateningly, "Tell me what you know."

"I-I'm sure Lord Pyro's just tired, nothing to worry about," he replied, avoiding looking at me. It was the first time that I snapped.

"Nothing to worry about! Nothing to worry about! I'm sick and tired of hearing that, Arno! Everyone says that there's nothing to worry about. But I _am_ worried! My daddy, for some reason, can't move! Because he went and got beaten up by Uncle Aqua for some reason! And Uncle Aqua didn't know it was him, for some reason!" I yelled at him, making him flinch, "I can't not be worried! What if Daddy's dying?! What if he and Uncle Aqua are not friends anymore?! What will happen to Cloud and I then?!"

"Luna, calm down," Arno said soothingly, dropping the duster to brush up to my side.

"I can't calm down; I need to know what's going on!"

Then Arno sighed a big sigh.

"I guess you'll have to know sooner or later. But please, don't tell anyone I told you this since I could lose my job if Lord Pyro or Lady Mew does not want me to tell you," he informed me first. I nodded in compliance. "Lord Pyro is severely injured. He is paralyzed; this means that he will not be able to move any part of his body but his head forever. But to make matters worse, his wounds have been infected and he will pass away soon."

The news shocked me to the core. It made me fall onto my rump.

"S-so Daddy's really going to die?" I asked, looking up at Arno desperately, hoping he'd say something like he's joking. But no luck, he just nodded. I knew it. I knew something was wrong from the moment I first saw him on that bed like that. It's no cold. It's death.

Cold, unforgiving, inevitable death that will soon grip Daddy's heart and tear the life away with its icy hands. I was just beginning to come to terms with it when Uncle Aqua entered the room, his twin tails swishing behind him. A half-smile on his face as he looked around the clean room and at us.

"How're we doing? Are you finished cleaning, Arno?"

"Just about to, Lord Aqua," Arno bowed his head before going back to cleaning with the duster in his maw, ear twitching once slightly.

"How about you, Luna? Having fun chatting with Arno? Better be careful not to disturb him though, okay?" he asked me next. I turned to look at him and stared for a second. Those golden eyes gleam with content. Did he not know that Daddy was going to die? That he was the one who essentially killed him? That he has no right to be happy in a time like this?

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and ran out of the room in a hurry. Behind me, I heard Arno apologize to him.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

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 **Play song: The place where wishes come true (Clannad OST)**

* * *

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Days passed, Daddy was moved to the picture room and stayed there, lying still and probably growing weaker. Ren came to visit a few times, we had a lot of fun.

Ever since the infirmary room back then, I haven't really talked to Daddy at all. But today, I'll confront him. I'll talk to him about what I've learnt, and he'll have to tell me the truth, with details, about what happened and why he hid it.

As I approached the room, my ears twitched and I could hear light snoring. Daddy's asleep? I stopped for a second, contemplating going away and coming back later when the snoring stopped, followed by his voice saying,

"Come in, Luna." I obeyed, slowly slinking into the room. I saw him, lying on the cushion, staring back at me and smiling. "Do you need anything?"

"I want to know, Daddy." His expression turned to that of confusion.

"Know what?"

"What happened? Why did Uncle Aqua attack you? Why did he hurt you to the point that you're dying? Why is he not sorry?" His expression softened.

"Luna," he said lightly, "Nothing's wrong. We just got into a little argument but everything's okay now. You don't have to be worried-"

"Don't say that, Daddy!" I snapped, "I know that he did that to you. And I know for sure that you can't move and you're dying! So don't say that nothing's wrong because things are definitely not right!"

"Luna, don't say that," he pleaded. Why wouldn't he take all this seriously?! What is wrong with him?!

"Why does everyone have to be so secretive?! Why won't you tell me anything at all about what's going on, why does everyone try and hide things from me and Cloud?!"

"Be a good girl, Luna," he told me, sternly yet still softly. "Be reasonable-"

"I won't be reasonable!" I shouted back, unable to control myself. "Why can't you just tell me the truth?! What's so wrong that you would lie to me that you are okay?!"

"Luna-" he said, raising his voice a bit.

"I HATE YOU, DADDY!" I yelled at him before rushing out of the room; I could remember the feeling of tears trickling down my face then.

 _And that… was the last time I ever heard Daddy speak…_

* * *

 **{A/N} I guess I decided to post this as an apology for the long break due to exams (Which is still yet to be over) and how LToD will be even later than I thought as it is hard to type it up and think of ideas. {And for some of you out there: no, not all of the chapters in this story will be sad/depressing theme or something like that}**

 **I promise I'll try my best with the LToD. Sorry**


	3. Chapter 3

**Song: Nagisa (Clannad OST)**

It's funny how we always hear around us that we need to cherish what we have. It's funny how we may say we do but we really don't. It's funny how we always say we regret it when it's gone, and how we always say 'if only', only to forget about it later on.

It's not funny when your loved ones die.

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't find it in me to smile, let alone laugh at anything then. As I watched Daddy's lifeless body lower into the ground in a beautiful clearing, surrounded by other pokemon, I brooded. I thought, did he have a good life? Tears start trickling down my cheeks.

Did he enjoy his life before it ended so soon? Did he enjoy taking care of Cloud and me, his ungrateful daughter? The daughter whose last words to him were that she hates him, even after all the things he'd done for her.

Heh, I laughed emotionlessly within me. Who could have a good life raising a child like that? At least he had Cloud, the ever-formal, understanding and, most of all, grateful child. Daddy must've been so heartbroken when I said that to him… Did he know he was going to die? I can't believe that I shouted that at him, even if I was consumed by my emotions then. What was I thinking?

I reminded myself over and over again of the final conversation with him. I found a solution. A simple solution: I have to atone for the sin. I was ungrateful to him, a bad sin in itself as he was the one who raised me. What better way to atone it than to chase down whoever caused Daddy's death?

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The next day, I told Cloud of this idea I had of finding out what happened and chasing down the person who is responsible. There has to be someone responsible for this, an entity. If I can't find them, I just might go to Giratina myself. Cloud seemed to frown at this at first, but as I explained my thoughts and feelings, he started to understand and finally, he nodded, agreeing to go with me. As much as I may not like having my ultra-protective, annoying brother around, he might worry and panic if I go alone.

Next up, I went towards the security wing of the manor. I've never really had much of a reason to go there before, so everything was quite new to me. I followed some signs, walked past some dorms which housed the guards, until I reached a large room labelled 'Surveillance'. As I entered the room, I saw a few Psychic pokemon talking to each other and other types of pokemon sitting in front of electronic screens showing almost every corner of the house.

Mystified by this, I pushed through and went over to one of the Psychic types, they would know, right? The pokemon in question was an Alakazam, our conversation went a bit like this:

"Miss Luna!" he exclaimed, surprised.

"Yesterday… Can you… Can you tell me who is responsible for last night?" I asked him. I noticed the other Psychic types looking at each other nervously. The Alakazam himself was also shifting around awkwardly.

"Um… There was a barrier, Miss Luna. A barrier made of dark energy that prevents us from using our Psychic powers. I think that it was Lord Pyro who put up that barrier. I'm afraid I cannot give more information as to who is responsible for his murder." I looked down in frustration, why would Daddy do such a thing? Then, I had an idea.

"The cameras were still active then, right?"

"Yes, miss." I walked over to one of the pokemon operating the camera system, a Flygon.

"Flygon." I called up to him. He noticed me and landed besides me, I guess he was monitoring the screens way up there.

"Yes, Miss Luna?"

"Who was responsible for yesterday? Alakazam said that it was a murder, that means that there's a pokemon who killed Daddy. Did you see who it is?"

"Miss Luna, I don't think you-"

"Tell me what you know, Flygon," I commanded.

"I really don't think-"

"TELL ME! I am ordering you to tell me, now!" I kinda screeched at him, making him cower a bit and attracting quite a bit of attention from others.

"Y-Yes, Miss Luna." He bowed down low, crouching on one knee. "We did not get to see much, as there are no cameras in place in Lord Pyro's picture room for his privacy. But we did catch something odd. There were two Arcanines in the manor that night, when, as you know, there is only one within our forces: Mister Arno. With that, I suspect that the other Arcanine is responsible for Lord Pyro's death."

"An Arcanine…" I muttered to myself.

"Be aware though, Miss Luna, that the Arcanine may not have been alone as he would have had no way to escape us after he did _that_ , since the Dark barrier had dropped and the whole security team was alerted. Yet he still got away, meaning he must've somehow teleported. As such, I think that he has a Psychic type as his partner."

"Good. Good, carry on," I mumbled and walked out. An Arcanine, huh? There's only one person to talk to about this. I walked down the corridors, thinking to myself. At this time of day, Arno should be… in the dining room, cleaning. I shifted my course for the dining room and entered through the big double doors. I saw him cleaning and walked straight over.

"Luna!" he said, surprised to see me.

"Arno, did you know the Arcanine from last night?" I asked straightforwardly.

"Arcanine? Last night?" he asked, bewildered. "How did you know about that, Luna?"

"I went over to the security wing just now."

"Those security guys…" he muttered under his breath, does he have some kind of grudge against them or something? Doesn't matter. He then looked at me. "Why do you want to know, Luna?" I explained to him everything I told Cloud, how I felt, what I'm going to do. He, like Cloud, understood.

"Tell you what, Luna. If you really want to do this. Find an Arcanine named Burst-" I was about to interrupt when he saw and put his huge paw on my little mouth, silencing me. "Befriend him. Don't hurt him, befriend him. And bring him back here. I'll repeat myself. Befriend him, Luna, don't hurt him." He paused, waiting for my response. I looked up at him for a second, wanting to hear why he's telling me to befriend Daddy's killer. But, realising he was not going to answer the question, I nodded. "Good, good. I won't tell Lord Aqua or Lady Mew, if you're wondering, so don't worry."

"And where do I go to find him?" I asked. To this, he sighed.

"I actually don't know. He could be in the town next to us, or he could be in another region far away. But don't give up, I'm sure you'll find him."

"Thanks, Arno." I walked out the room, only to bump into someone. An unpleasant someone.

"Hey, whoa," he said when I attempted to walk away from him quickly. "Luna, wait!"

I was about to break into a sprint when he said, "I heard your conversation with Arno!". That stopped me in my tracks. He heard?! Of all people, he did?

"You wouldn't want me to tell Uncle Aqua or Mom, would you?" he continued. I fumed silently, before whipping around to glare at him.

"What do you want, Vulcan?!"

"Take me with you." I recoiled in shock. What? He wants to go too?

"No!" I shouted back. Hearing this, he assumed a mock-thinking position.

"Hm… Should I tell Mom first? Or should I tell Uncle Aqua first?"

"Grr…" I growled, "Fine! Fine, I'll let you go!"

"Thanks, little fox," he said, ruffling my head fur. As I went to bite his paw, he pulled back and ran away, laughing. I growled again before stomping my way over to my room to find Cloud.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"So? How'd it go?" Cloud asked.

"I know what we have to do now," I replied simply, lying on the bed.

"Then, should we go? Before Mother or Uncle Aqua comes to check on us."

"We have to pick up someone first."

"Who?"

"That annoying 'brother' of ours. He somehow overheard my conversation and threatened to tell Mom if I don't let him come with us."

"Vulcan? Well, it would be okay, I guess. He _is_ the eldest and has more battle experience should we have to fight someone."

"Yeah, but he's _annoying_!" I whined.

"Maybe because he sees you fun to tease. I'm sure he means well."

"Whatever." I huffed and threw myself off the bed. We both walked to Vulcan's room and tapped his door. It opened and he poked his head out.

"Oh, it's Cloud and the runt," he snickered.

"Don't call me runt!" I yelled.

"Just kidding." He walked out and ruffled the fur on my head again.

"I will _decimate_ you," I screeched at him. He just laughed.

"Ooh, big words. Do I need a dictionary for the next one?" I was too annoyed to even try and bite him this time. "Let's go then!" he continued, seeing that I wasn't going to reply.

 **{A/N} Here's the thing, I will be moving to a new school and so I have no idea what my situation will be regarding internet access. So don't worry if I suddenly go dark for a month or two.**

 **~Wulfy**


	4. Chapter 4

You know how time passes without you knowing it? Yeah, that's what's happening with me. It's very, very hard, almost impossible, to believe that sixteen years have passed since we left home. Not very much had happened, really. The biggest thing was probably that Vulcan is no longer with us, he opted to stay at one of the cities we passed through. That city was the first one we went through that was inhabited by both pokemon and humans. That meant that that was the first time that I saw a human. They were peculiar, to say the least. No fur or anything to protect them from weather, they instead rely on these things made of cloth called clothes. They also couldn't understand a thing we were saying. How dumb are they?

Enough of that, let me tell you about the biggest event that had happened in the sixteen years: Vulcan leaving us. As much as I hate to admit it, I kinda miss the teasing and head-rubbing habit of his.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

As we neared the 'city', as Vulcan called it, the forest we were travelling through thinned out. I could hear noises, lots of them, all foreign, in front of us. As the noise got louder, my ears splayed back in an attempt to block some of it. Vulcan noticed this and laughed,

"Don't tell me you're scared of loud noises!"

"I am not!" I shouted back. I noticed Cloud roll his eyes and sighed but ignored him.

"Aw, is the poor widdle Zorua in denial?" he cooed mockingly. My fangs bared instinctively and I gave off a growl.

"I'm going to clobber you in a second…" He laughed harder, stood up on his hind legs and ruffled the tuft of fur on my head.

"Good luck, little runt." I snarled and twisted my head to bite his paw but he was too quick for me. Withdrawing his paw and jumping back a bit, he grinned back at me. "Still too slow."

"Shut up." I was about to leap onto him again but a voice interrupted us.

"Hello? Anybody out here?" As if a switch were thrown, Vulcan's mood changed from joking around to serious. Cloud also looked around, probably preparing his Psychic attack too.

"Who's there?" Vulcan called out, looking every which way. A bush next to us suddenly rustled and we all stared at it. The head of a Vulpix suddenly poked through. The Vulpix had three curls on top of its head and bangs. Its muzzle was still quite short and it had two differently colored eyes, left one amber and right one light blue. I've always wondered what heterochromia looked like, now I know. Our guards dropped as the Vulpix squirmed out of the bush. He was quite startled when he noticed Cloud.

"Y-y-you… P-Please don't kill me…" he suddenly pleaded, pressing his body to the ground in quite obvious fear. I looked at Vulcan, expecting him to know something about this but he seemed frozen in place- scratch that, he seems _smitten_ with the Vulpix. I mean, wow, I've never seen him like that before. Look at that, his cheeks are even a bit pink! I'd die before I let Vulcan hear this but I think that it's kinda cute. Anyways, I think I'm correct in saying that we were pretty confused as to why the Vulpix said that. Then again, we haven't been in a town or city in quite a few months so maybe something happened between then. In the end, Cloud was the one to ask the Vulpix.

"Why would we kill you?" Cloud asked, curious.

"Y-You're a legendary, aren't you?" he replied shakily, looking at Cloud.

"Yeah, so?" The Vulpix then stood up straight and cocked his head, suddenly looking as confused as we were.

"You're not like what everyone says at all…"

"What did others say about me?" The Vulpix then blinked a few times, still looking confused as ever.

"Haven't you heard?" We all shook our heads, "There have been many reports of killings in villages by legendary pokemon, one or multiple is not clear. Everyone's been saying that all the legendary pokemons are involved and are dangerous, so we should stay clear of them."

"Um… I've never heard of that, when did it start?" I asked him.

"Only about a month or so ago." Yeah, that's what I thought.

"Well, I think we can say that I'm not involved in anything of sorts," Cloud explained. "Now, let's start in the beginning with introductions. I'm Cloud."

"I'm Luna, and that frozen fire-type, as ironic as that is, over there is Vulcan," I continued, pointing over to said Quilava, who still have yet to shake himself out of his trance.

"I'm Fenwick," he replied simply.

"That's a beautiful name," Vulcan suddenly blurted out. We all looked at him for a second and he shied away, covering his face. Ha, his cheeks just turned even more pinkish-red! That's just adorable, even more than one of those fairy tale books mommy read to me before. It was about a… a princess and a commoner falling in love, I think? Cloud's voice broke me out of my train of thought.

"Anyways, putting Vulcan's uh… comment aside, do you know anything about the city ahead?" Cloud asked him.

"Oh, Sonizor?"

"Sonizor? That's a pretty weird name…" I commented.

"Yeah, well, it's the formal name."

"What do you mean, formal name?"

"I mean, it's usually called 'City of Sound' by most people," he shrugged. I can still notice that he is slowly edging away from Cloud, leaning towards me instead.

"Does that have anything to do with the absurd amount of noise from the city?" Cloud asked. Fenwick was slightly startled; I can tell by the fact that his fur suddenly stood up a bit. Vulcan took this moment to finally peek out from his paws, which were still covering most of his face.

"You mean the music?" Fenwick said, "There's music playing everywhere, twenty-four-seven. The humans built the system. I admit, it can get pretty annoying when you live there for a couple of years."

"There are humans?" I asked, a bit excited. I've never seen a human before, wonder what they were like? Maybe I could have a conversation with them and learn more about them.

"They even put some stupid motto on their city hall saying 'We built this city on electronic progressive house music' or something like that, I've never really understood, nor cared, about it. But anyways, some of us wild pokemon live in the city with the humans. They're cool, they don't catch us or anything, unless we go up to them and demand it. Hell, they even built this tower with lots of rooms just for us wild pokemon to stay in."

"Sounds like a very… chill city."

"Guess you could say that."

"You say you live in that city? What are you doing out here then?" Cloud asked. Fenwick suddenly became nervous, giving a smile and looking to the side. Wait, wait, wait. Back up, back up. That smile was _totally_ fake!

"I just… I just came for a stroll! Yeah, I just came out for a little walk. Nothing much."

"You're a really bad liar, you know? Whatever, the reason you're out here doesn't matter. Since you live there, mind giving us a tour?"

"There's no way in hell you're going into that city like that," Fenwick pointed to Cloud. "The City of Sound may be chill, but one glance at you and panic will spread faster than wildfire. Contrary to what you may think, humans were the ones who spread the rumor of legendary pokemon killing to us wild pokemon. They'll do anything to stop you entering, even if it means that they'll have to shoot you with those loud sticks they call 'guns'."

"But- But I didn't do anything!"

"Not their concern. Can't you just transform into another pokemon or something?"

"I've never used Transform before…" Cloud mumbled.

"Then I guess we're not going." Fenwick smiled.

"Hold on. Cloud can just stay back; I've got things to ask people around anyways. You can show me and Vulcan around the city then." He looked nervous again. Honestly, what was his problem?

"H-Hey now-" With that, he suddenly turned around and sprinted towards the bush he came out from. Too slow; with the training from my attempts at maiming Vulcan, my reaction speed was very fast. I lunged at him and the next thing I knew, I was standing on top of his back, my claws gripping onto his pelt and my face being whipped by the wind and leaves as he sprinted with me still on his back.

"Get off! Get off me!" he shouted.

"Not until you show me around!" I yelled right back into his ear, making him flinch. That momentary lapse of concentration caused him to trip and we both went sprawling on the ground. By the time I picked myself back up, Vulcan and Cloud had already caught up. I turned around, saw Fenwick trying to get up, and pounced onto him, making him fall back down again.

"Oof! Oowww- Get off me," he moaned. Before I could yell my demand into his other ear, Vulcan grabbed me and pulled me off. "Geez, you sure are heavy for a tiny one, aren't you?"

"What did you say?!" I snapped. How _dare_ he call me tiny?! And heavy to boot!

"That's enough, Luna," he scolded me. "If he doesn't want to show us around then we can't force him, okay?"

Peh, whatever, stupid love-struck Quilava. How did he even fall in love for another male anyways? That's just weird…

All right, here's where things may get a bit confusing so I'll explain it to you. I'm going to hand this diary to Fenwick and let him put his perspective in it. You might not understand why I would do this right now, but you will later. I hope.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

Ouch, that Zorua sure has a loud voice. I involuntarily flinched as my ear rang from her yelling. It was that critical moment where I shut my eye that I suddenly tripped. We both went sprawling onto the ground in a heap. I had to lay there for a bit and catch my breath before quietly trying to get up. I had hoped that that maniac, Luna, as she called herself, didn't hear me and that I could slip away before she recovered. No such luck, I lost my breath again as she jumped onto my chest.

"Oof! Oowww- Get off me," I moaned. Man, she was heavy for a little fox! Thankfully, that shy Quilava pulled her off me and told her off. "Geez, you sure are heavy for a tiny one, aren't you?"

"What did you say?!" she snapped.

"That's enough, Luna. If he doesn't want to show us around then we can't force him, okay?" he said. The way he said that made me feel a bit guilty, like I'm cold-hearted or something. "Come on, we can just find our way around ourselves."

"All right, fine," I mumbled. They turned to look at me. "I'll show you to the entrance but that's it, okay?"

"That's good enough!" Luna exclaimed while Vulcan nodded. Oh boy, I'll have to get this over quickly. Me and my guilt…

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

As the trees and bushes cleared away to reveal to us a road leading into the city, I turned back towards them.

"Right, here's where I leave you guys then. Bye!" I started to walk back the way we came, away from the City of Sound. A sharp pain stopped me however. Oh my God- You've got to be kidding me. Luna was latched onto me, biting the nape of my neck. I groaned quite audibly. "What more do you want?"

"Are you running away?" Luna asked, her voice muffled by my neck fur.

"Let go of me!"

"No."

"Earlier, you said that me showing you the entrance was good enough-!"

"Your highness?" My blood ran cold as we all turned to look at the new person. A Helioptile. Not just any Helioptile either, one I'm quite familiar with. "It is you! Your highness! You had us all worried!"

"What's he saying?" Luna asked me, letting go of my neck.

"Your highness?" Vulcan also asked, looking perplexed.

"Uh… Yeah, I may have left something out when introducing myself," I mumbled in reply. I suddenly remembered something: Cloud! I can't let Apollo (the Helioptile) see him! I looked around and noticed that Cloud was gone. Weird, he was just here, wasn't he?

"You mean, you two don't know?" Apollo questioned in disbelief as if someone just told him they didn't know what the colour yellow was. "This noble Vulpix here," he pointed at me with one of his little paws, "Is his highness, Royal Prince Fenwick the Second! Future ruler of Sonizor!"

Total silence reigned for a minute.

"P-Prince?" both Vulcan and Luna said at the same time.

"Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you that."

"How in the world do you manage to _forget_ that you're a prince?" Luna asked, scowling. Did I upset her by leaving out that little fact?

"Silence, commoner! You shall not speak to his highness in that manner!" Apollo exclaimed, moving in between us. Now that's ironic, a close acquaintance of a legendary pokemon being called a commoner. Come to think of it, I never did find out the relationship between those three.

"So, Prince Fenwick," Vulcan said, looking straight at me. I gulped nervously. "What were you doing in the forest and why are you so nervous of going back into the city?" I looked at Apollo, expecting him to say something. All I got in return was a blank stare. I guess the cat's out of the bag…

"I was running away from home." They continued to stare at me. What, was that not enough?

"What for?" Not enough then…

"Alright, fine," I sighed, "As future ruler of the pokemon of Sonizor, I am expected to find a mate before I am crowned. It was too much trouble, all those pokemon just lining up outside the door, wanting to be my mate. I'm not interested in finding one!" For a split-second, I swear I saw Vulcan look downhearted, but I blinked and his face remained curious. Must be seeing things…

"Your highness, that is very irresponsible of you!" Apollo exclaimed, "You caused quite the bustle when we discovered you disappeared! The army sent out search parties all over the place!"

"I was only gone for a day…" I mumbled.

"You have an army?!" Luna's eyes widened as she shifted her stare to the Helioptile.

"But of course, how else would you protect an empire?"

"Protect from what, exactly?" she snorted. A loud rumble from overhead interrupted them. We all looked up and saw dark clouds looming above.

"Weird, it was sunny until a moment ago," I said to nobody in particular.

"You commoners!" Apollo jumped, "You must've done something to anger the sea monster Kyogre, haven't you?!"

"Hey, don't you start pointing fingers at anyone, mister!" Luna shouted back.

"Guys," I stopped them before their little spat escalated. "We should go inside then. I mean, with all that's going on, running away is pointless now." Yeah, now that Apollo knows, it was kinda pointless since he, and probably some search party, will be able to follow me easily. I mean, I'm just as athletic as the next pokemon but those guys were trained for endurance and speed, there's no way I can outrun them.

"Fine, take me to your palace," Luna grumbled, " _Your highness_." Somehow I get the feeling she didn't add that out of respect…

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

So…

"-The great warrior Luna is reduced into this?" I asked, staring at the ball of grey fur. She was snuggling- no, that's not the right word. She was pushing her face right into the Quilava's fur while curling up into a ball. We never actually reached my home, the rain came down first. We were forced to take refuge under a bus stop (built by the humans. I still don't know what it's really for though, except as a shelter from rain). It was getting dark and Apollo had fallen asleep, leaving us (to suffer) under the shelter from the rain.

"Don't look at me," she whispered. Another crack of thunder sound and she yelped, pushing herself further into Vulcan's fur.

"You're scared of thun-?"

"Don't say it!" she interrupted me by yelling into the fur. Vulcan looked like he was about to say something, but somehow she sensed it. She pulled her face out of his fur and glared at him. I could see her ruby-red eyes glistening with tears and her cheeks red, showing even through the fur, from embarrassment and utter humiliation. "Don't say anything," she said, her voice wavering.

Another crack of thunder, the rain poured down harder than ever. With the loud boom, Luna once again pushed her face into Vulcan's fur in an attempt to block out the noise. Her whole body was shivering, either from the cold or her fear of thunder. Or was it a fear of loud noises? I'll never know.

Her body jerked and then froze when Vulcan put a paw on her head. I looked at him and saw his face donning a calm, warm smile. He slowly rubbed and petted her head. Her shivering then continued, but only slightly.

"Don't worry, I won't," he whispered, making her ear twitch a bit. It was such a sweet scene, I had to hold myself back from crying out 'D'aww'. Despite his slightly abnormal first impression, Vulcan seemed to be a pretty nice guy. I'd give a lot to have a friend like him by my side.

The petting seemed to calm her somewhat; her breathing slowed and her shivering stopped entirely. Soon, I noticed that she had fallen asleep while Vulcan played with the little tuft of fur on her head, twirling a few strands around his digit. The little devil actually looks all cute and innocent when sleeping, huh?

"Sleep tight, little girl," he whispered.

"Hey, uh, Vulcan?" I spoke softly so that I wouldn't wake Luna up.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask what relationship do you two have towards that Mew- Cloud, was it?"

"To Cloud? Well… Simply put, us three are siblings-" He saw that I was about to interrupt and held up a paw to stop me. "It's weird, I know. Let me clarify, Luna and Cloud are siblings, I am their step-brother that their father adopted before they were born."

"Yeah, that begs another question: Just who are their parents then?"

"Well, your highness," he chuckled, "Have you heard of the name Pyro Umbraculo?"

Pyro Umbraculo? Pyro… Umbraculo. A peculiar name, but it does ring a bell. Pyro… Hold on, let me think for a bit.

"I think I've heard of that name before. It was connected to some big event, was this 'Pyro' a famous pokemon?"

"Oh yes, he's famous. It's not that much of a surprise that you can't remember, it was about nine years ago anyways, that big 'event'." Nine… Nine… I was still a bit young then… Something about…

"A legendary pokemon?" I mumbled. Then it finally clicked, "Don't tell me. Their father is also a legendary pokemon?!"

"Was. About nine years ago," Vulcan calmly recited, "The great pokemon of legends, The Shadow Mew, passed away. It was a horrible death, caused by another pokemon while he had not the strength to defend himself. This was the pokemon who had done some horrible things, some may say that he deserved what he got. But there are also those who knew that he had also done many good things deserving of a reward, some who even owe their life to him, me included. If he hadn't taken me in, I have no idea where I would be right now. Yet he was always the humble pokemon."

No way…

"That's how the story goes. I can't tell you much about his deeds but he was a great pokemon alright. And a great father, too. His mate, my step-mother, Mew, was devastated back then. Along with Uncle Aqua, the Light Mew," he finished.

"S-s-so…"

"Yep, Cloud and Luna are siblings all right. Cloud the Mew and Luna the current Shadow Mew."

"Luna's the Sh-Shadow Mew?!"

"She doesn't know that yet though. And its tradition to let the Shadow Mew, and the Light Mew of course, be oblivious until they find themselves and their true identity. We shouldn't tell her, so sshh," he winked, flashing me another smile. Deep breaths, Fenwick, deep breaths. They're both legendary pokemon. Cloud proved himself to be quite docile and probably wouldn't go into a killing spree in the foreseeable future. The city's safe from him. But Luna though… She's pretty violent and feisty, she could be dangerous.

"But I think it's still a long way until she finds her true identity. I mean, come on, the Shadow Mew being scared of a little thunder? That's pretty sad, I think." Luna suddenly squirmed a bit and her hind leg kicked out, right into the Quilava's stomach. I'm pretty sure she's still asleep though.

I stared at her sleeping form, still pushed up against the wheezing Quilava, who was holding his stomach and gasping desperately for air.

"You deserved that, probably," I told him, grinning. He just nodded wearily.

The rest of the night wasn't really eventful. We got tired of waiting out the rain and went to sleep, my mind still heavy on the main topic of our conversation.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

There you go, Fenwick's little point-of-view on the day. He's not that great of a storyteller, is he? I'm sorry you guys had to endure through that poor writing of his. Apparently I kicked Vulcan right in the guts while asleep when he was badmouthing me, ha! Serves him right. And yes, back then I didn't know about the whole 'you are a Shadow Mew, now go rule the world' thing put onto me yet, so you can guess how I felt when I woke up to Prince Fenwick pampering me with questions such as 'Are you hungry, can I get something for you to eat?': Satisfied.

Anyways, in the morning, that little Helioptile (Apollo, was it?) took all of us to the palace. It was nothing too grand, really. A human house that was just a little larger than normal. Fenwick told us that this was a palace the humans called 'Mayor's house'. It's supposed to be this extravagant place that holds the king and queen of the pokemon of the City of Sound and the human equivalent of this.

The human 'king and queen' of the city weren't really worth much notice. It was only the fact that they were the first human I ever saw that made me look them over. Humans were pretty weird. They don't have any fur so they made these garments made of cloth called, guess what: clothes. I mean, it sounds like a term they made up just because calling them cloth pieces didn't seem sophisticated. Another thing is that, while we can totally understand every word they say, they can't seem to understand us at all. Our meeting went something like this:

"Oh, Helioptile and Vulpix!" the elderly woman gasped and smiled, "You're back! And I see you've brought some friends!" Fenwick and Apollo nodded at her. I, however, made a reaction that was somewhat more noteworthy than theirs: I ran straight up to her and sniffed her. A human's scent was nothing too interesting. Walking around her, I observed her body shape and style from below. "What's this? Do you want something, little Zorua?"

"Don't call me little!" I exclaimed at her. All she did was smiled and petted me on the head.

"Aww, aren't you just the cutest?" Although I admit that the petting felt good, I didn't like being called 'little'.

"I'll forgive you this time, it's your first time meeting me after all. So, what's your name?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Oh my, are you hungry? Or is it something else you need?"

"I didn't ask for anything! What's your name?" I raised my voice a bit, wondering if she had hearing problems. She was pretty old, after all, her senses may have dulled with time.

"Stay right here then, I'll go get you something to eat. I hope you don't mind dark-type pokemon food," she then turned around and started to walk away before turning back around again. "You are a dark-type, aren't you?"

"Hey, I didn't say I wanted any food! Didn't you hear me asking for your name?!"

"Of course you are, silly me." She then turned and walked away again.

"Come back!" I yelled after her. This time, there was no reply. I looked away from the doorway and back towards the others, expecting some answers from them. No such luck, they were all barely holding back their laughter. My face grew red from anger and embarrassment.

"What?!" I snapped.

"Humans can't understand us!" Apollo finally gave in and laughed his tail off. "Don't you know that, commoner?" I turned my glare at Vulcan instead.

"You could have told me!"

"It was too tempting to see you react around a human, I couldn't let this opportunity pass." Vulcan then burst out in laughter too. I lunged at him, fangs bared. He, again, was able to dodge it, pulling his arm back and into the air. "Still too slow, little-"

Chomp. I grinned in satisfaction as I bit down on his hind leg. Got him.

"Aaaah!" he screamed, trying to push me off. "Let go, let go!"

"Uh-uh" I mumbled, looking at him with possibly what could only be described as a glint of malice and satisfaction in my eyes.

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry- I'm sorry!" he yelled in quick succession, "Ow, ow, ow. Please let go of my leg, Luna! I'm sorryyyyy!"

I took my sweet time looking at the pained and desperate expression on his face before letting his leg go. "That's what you get," I cooed, licking my lips. He was too busy tending to the bite mark on his leg to respond. Hm… No blood, maybe I didn't bite hard enough.

"Are you okay?" Fenwick, who had broken out of his laughing state, walked— no – _curled_ around Vulcan and looked at his wound I caused. "It doesn't look too bad; do you think you can walk?"

"My, my," a foreign female voice called out. We all turned to look at her. "What's with all this racket this early in the morning?"

A Ninetales and an Arcanine walked out. For a second, I remembered the reason I ever left home in the first place: to find an Arcanine by the name of Burst. My hopes rose but I was soon let down.

"Fenwick!" they both exclaimed upon spotting the Vulpix. The Arcanine rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug, licking him all over.

"Mom!" Fenwick whined. "I'm not a baby anymore!" Yeah, it doesn't seem like this female Arcanine would be named Burst. Not that 'Burst' was a female name either.

"That's right, you're not." The Ninetales stepped forth, looking at Fenwick straight in the eyes. His voice was quite deeper than what I'd imagine a Ninetales's voice would be like. "Which means that you should be responsible for your actions. So, anything you'd like to say to us regarding your little… Escapade?" Fenwick started to look nervous, his eyes darting around with an uncomfortable grin on his face.

"Um… I'm sorry for running away?"

"You should be. Like you said, you are not a baby anymore, you shouldn't even be considering an immature stunt like running away. You've caused your mom great trouble and worry by doing so, not to mention wasting a lot of pokemon's time looking for you. Make no mistake, there will be a punishment for this."

"But first, let us take care of you," the kinder Arcanine mother took over. "You smell like you need a bath! Oh, and thank you, Apollo, for bringing him back. You are dismissed." Apollo bowed and left the palace-home in a hurry. You know what? I'll just call it a home. It wasn't as great as my home, so it can hardly be called a palace, am I right?

"Before we do that, Agnes, why not let him introduce his friends?"

"Oh, right. Mom, dad, this is Vulcan and Luna. I met them in the forest," he told them, gesturing towards us respectively.

"Let me guess, they found you, made you bring them into our city, and you guys ran into Apollo. Am I right?"

"Dead on, dad," Fenwick said despairingly.

"Oh no!" the Arcanine, Agnes, suddenly exclaimed. I noticed she was looking at Vulcan. "Dearie, you're hurt!"

"O-Oh, it's nothing really, ma'am."

"No, no. You might need to get that looked at. Some wounds look better than they actually are, you know?"

"I'm sure if he says it's fine then it probably is, no need for a fuss," the Ninetales argued. "Pain is a part of learning, so I hope it was a valuable lesson."

"You can say that," Vulcan mumbled in reply. I could feel a grin building up. And that lesson would be to not mess with me, isn't it, Vulcan?

"Anyways, let us introduce ourselves. I am Agni, and this is Agnes," the Ninetales introduced himself before gesturing to the Arcanine, who gave them a friendly wave. Huh, pretty similar names, how cute~! It's like they were meant to be together, soul-mates or something like that.

"Nice to meet you!" Agnes chirped.

"Likewise." Both Vulcan and I gave a little bow of respect.

"I must thank you for bringing Fenwick, here, back to us. You have our gratitude," the Ninetales continued.

"Oh, no, it was no trouble at all! I found that he is quite a pleasant pokemon to be with," Vulcan smiled.

"Even though he did insult me when we met," I mumbled. His dad heard this and glared at him in a way that said 'I can't believe you did that'.

"Oh? Did he now?"

"I didn't!" he protested. "I never insulted you! The only thing I ever said was that you were heavy for a little-"

"I take that as offence!" I yelled back at him.

"That's enough, Fenwick. You and I are going to have a long talk after this, young man."

"Yes, dad," he moaned. Vulcan seemed to take pity at this.

"Your highness-"

"Just 'sir', will do."

"Uh, yes. Sir, don't be too harsh on him. I'm sure Luna doesn't really take offence or anything, she just acts this way to everyone." I was about to protest but Vulcan shoved a paw over my mouth. I contemplated chomping down on his paw but that would look bad in front of these royalties.

"Even then, Fenwick needs to learn more manners if he is to become the next ruler of Sonizor."

"Agni, dear, don't you think you are a bit too harsh on little Fenwick, though?" Agnes intervened.

"He is not a cub anymore. He needs to learn of respect and responsibility."

"But-" She was interrupted by Agni holding up a paw.

"I've made up my mind, Agnes. Nevertheless, a punishment is in order for running away at the very least."

"Sir, I don't think-" Vulcan was cut off when the Ninetales shifted his gaze to him. Even here, I felt a little chill go down my spine from his cold gaze. "Um… Never mind."

"So… Would you like to go and get cleaned up, Fenwick?" Agnes said after almost a minute of silence.

"Yes, Mom." Both of them left the room, leaving us with Agni.

"So… Um… Wh-what are you two going to do now?" Both Vulcan and I blinked, we searched the room for the source of the timid, stuttering voice. Our eyes finally landed on Agni, the only one in the room besides us.

"Come again?" Vulcan asked.

"What a-are you two going to d-do now? I mean, do you need anything f-from us?" he asked again. Whoa, talk about a change in personality.

"Hold on," I said, "Weren't you just all tough and stern just now? What's going on?"

"Hey," he whined. Yes, _whined_. "I've got to set a good example as a parent, right? I can't act like this in front of Fenwick…" he mumbled. All right, so the king apparently talks like a hero in front of his son but acts like a coward to outsiders. I guess it must be Agnes who does the 'ruling' around the city.

"Well," Vulcan said awkwardly, "I guess we do have a question to ask."

"Ask away then," Agni replied happily. I swear, his behavior is like a cub when Fenwick is not around.

"Have you ever heard of an Arcanine named 'Burst'?" Agni assumed a thinking stance.

"Hmm… I know one named Agnes…" Yeah, of course you do, she's your mate. "But 'Burst', huh? Ooh, wait a minute. I think I _have_ heard of that name before!"

"You did?!" we both exclaimed. Finally, after so long, a lead!

"Yeah, I don't know much though, but I've heard it from the local innkeeper. Here, let me take you there." He then pranced (Yes, he actually did prance) towards the door before he suddenly tripped. We both gasped a bit as he went sprawling on the floor face-first with a sharp 'Nine!' (Apparently that's how their species yelped). Agni then stood up, switching back to his 'regal, stern ruler' mode and acting like nothing happened. We both looked at each other for a second before following him.

As we walked through the streets, he nodded greetings to various passing pokemon. Soon, we arrived at a wooden building only slightly larger than the other surrounding buildings. A dainty sign said 'Ye olde inn' hung above the entrance. He stopped in front of it.

"Here you go. I hope you find what you're looking for." he smiled, his tails shifting from side to side.

"Thank you for helping us."

"Remember, you can always come to us for help or a place to stay. We'll be happy to accommodate you!" he told us. "See ya!" He then turned around and started walking back towards the house. We watched as he tripped, recovered quickly and laughed it off, before walking through the wooden swing-doors made for quadruped pokemon.

Inside was a musty, old atmosphere. Not that that gave a negative feel about the place, it actually made the place have an atmosphere of nostalgia. A Galvantula was manning the counter alongside a human female. She looked at us for a second.

"Go on, Galvantula, see if they want something," she spoke. The Galvantula nodded and then approached us.

"Good morning, how may I help you?" he said in a friendly tone.

"Yes, uh… We were told by Agni that you could help us."

"By his royal highness? Why, I'm honored!"

"He said that you might have some information on an Arcanine named Burst."

"Of course!" he then sat down, getting a bit more comfortable. "We had a customer named Burst a month or two ago, came here with his Meowstic friend. I never forget a customer, especially one as generous as him! He gave us a tip of almost half the cost itself, can you believe that?"

"Uh, okay then. Do you happen to know where he went?"

"I'm pretty sure he mentioned the seaport town Vanence just east of here. Why?"

"Oh, we're just looking for him. He's… an acquaintance of ours, you see," I replied, quickly making up a reason on the spot.

"Hm, all right then. Good luck finding him!" he smiled, as much as a Galvantula could, and waved at us with one of his legs as we walked out.

Even though we had only been in there for no longer than half an hour, the breath of fresh air hit us as we stepped outside. No more overwhelming smell of wood.

"So… Vanence, huh?" Vulcan mentioned.

"Yeah. I guess we're going there next," I replied, looking up into the bright, blue sky. Such a beautiful day. The city's sound system was playing some smooth, electronic music, making me feel more relaxed than ever. I wonder what Cloud's up to the past day. Was he bored? I know I would if I were him.

"Luna?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to stay in this city." I laughed and looked at him. His face was totally serious. Wait a minute, he wasn't serious about what he just said, was he? "I'm serious." Okay, hold on a minute. I don't want you guys to misunderstand: I hate how Vulcan always teases me and messes up my head fur and all that. But at the end of the day, he is still my brother, even though it's not by blood. He does have his good sides, as shown by last night when it was raining. What I'm trying to say is, I don't want him to leave us mid-way through the journey.

"H-hey now. Don't even joke about that. I'll bite you again, you know?"

"I'm totally serious, Luna. I think I want to stay here in Sonizor." Once he said this, I suddenly felt anger bubbling inside me.

"For what?!" I snapped. "Just so you can be with that Vulpix who doesn't even love you or even know that you love him? You're just going to leave Cloud and I, your siblings, for someone who doesn't even understand how you feel?!" He winced, a look of pain crossed his features for a moment.

"Luna, try to understand my feelings a bit," he mumbled. "Please just let me stay here. You didn't want me to come along in the first place, remember? Why are you so opposed of me leaving now?"

I could only stare at him in silence. It was true that I hated his guts and him coming along with us was the worst thing that could've happened. Back then, not now. I'd hardly realized it, but I had gotten used to his teasing, maybe even grown to like it a bit. Is that why I don't want him to leave us now?

"Be reasonable, Luna." Those words made my eyes widen, tears threatening to spill. Those were pretty much the exact same words Daddy told me the last time when I spoke to him. He noticed the impact of those words on me, though maybe he didn't know why it affected me so, he still noticed that I was hurt and that was what mattered to him. He pulled me into a hug. "There, there. Don't cry, little girl."

I didn't know what to do. I bit down on Vulcan's shoulder, though no strength was put into it at all, sapped by the sobbing, I was powerless as I tried to bite him. "Stupid Vulcan," I sobbed. "Stupid, stupid Vulcan."

"Please just let me do this," he whispered into my ear, hugging me tighter. It took me a few minutes before I responded with a weak nod. Who am I to stop him? He should be able to do whatever he wanted, it was his life, not mine.

"Come on, let's go see Fenwick," he said as he started to walk off. "Let's go, Luna."

We slowly walked back to the big house. We weren't in any hurry so by the time we reached it, it was a bit past noon. Agni was quite surprised to see us there (he almost tripped over himself again).

"I thought you two were gone!" he exclaimed quite excitedly. Fenwick then came out and Agni switched back to his 'king' mode. "So, do you need something else from us?"

"I'd like to take you up on your offer, sir," Vulcan said. "I'd decided to remain here in Sonizor so I was wondering if you could let me stay."

"Well…" Both Fenwick and Agni were quite surprised at this.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to stay for free. I request a job at the palace; I can be a butler, a cook or even a guard, I've had some experience in battling from my father. Let me work and earn my stay, sir!" Vulcan exclaimed, standing up straight.

"From your father, eh?" Agni pondered, "I can't say that that means you'll have decent battling skills compared to the others…"

"I'll train some more then."

"Dad, can't you let him stay?" Poor Fenwick was just looking desperate. He probably wanted a friend like Vulcan and now Vulcan offered to stay, but the decision depends on his father. "Please?"

Agni looked at his son who was pretty much begging him. He could see how much he wanted this Quilava to stay. He probably thought that his son didn't have many friends, and here one presented itself right on his doorstep, asking to stay. Well… Actually, I didn't know what was going on in his mind, I was just guessing. But basically, the outcome was that Agni allowed Vulcan to stay for free without having to work, despite Vulcan asking to repay the favor.

"Our palace is too big anyways," Agni had replied, "It gets boring and lonely at times, isn't that right Fenwick? Just being here would be a favor in itself. Though I hadn't imagined that you would come asking for a place to stay, I admit." The moment he finished, he was smothered in hugs from Fenwick, along with a torrent of 'thank you' yelled at the top of his lungs. It was quite a humorous scene, combined with the panicked look and thrashing from Agni trying to get his son off him. Vulcan himself was smiling, sitting back and watching. I, myself, couldn't really smile. So Vulcan really was leaving us…

"Luna," Vulcan whispered as he walked over to my side. I looked at him, tears threatening to spill yet again, but I forced a smile.

"Good for you, Vulcan. You get to stay with Fenwick. For free, too!" I forced a chuckle before my throat blocked up. He hugged me again and I shoved my face into his fur. "Promise me you'll come visit."

"I promise," he said, "I'll definitely come visit you and Cloud again back at our home."

I nodded slowly and pulled myself off him. I noticed that the father-son duo had finished messing around and dried my face hastily. "Well… I guess I should be off."

"I'm sure we'll meet again," Agni said, smiling. Fenwick nodded in agreement and waved.

"Goodbye… Vulcan," I mumbled to him, turned around and started to walk away.

"See you later, Luna! I'll definitely go back and visit you, I swear on dad's name!" I heard him shout. Not once did I turn back.

* * *

 **Spice and Wolf OST – Tabi no Tochuu** _ **(In the midst of the journey)**_

* * *

I couldn't remember how long it took but I soon noticed myself back where I started – Where we found Fenwick. Or rather, where Fenwick found us.

"Luna?"

I recognized that voice and looked around. There he was: my brother, Cloud. "Hey, Cloud. I'm sorry you had to wait for a whole day."

"Where's Vulcan?" he questioned. I sighed and looked back at the city wistfully.

"He left to follow his dream," I said simply, still looking at the City of Sound. Yesterday, I had found the noise annoying and even intimidating, making me hate it so much. But somewhere along the way, I had grown fond of its music. The music of joy, of sadness, of anger or of love. The diverse range of sounds and the sheer amount and variety of feelings those can make you, one can only discover it first-hand. Maybe I can bring you here to Sonizor and let you experience how simple noises can create a melody that strikes your heart so.

"Luna?" Cloud said, snapping me out of my trance.

"Oh, yeah. We should move. An innkeeper I asked told me that the Arcanine we were looking for, Burst, probably headed towards Vanence port town to the east."

"'Probably'? That's not very encouraging…"

"It's still better than wandering aimlessly like we've been doing for the past years. I've never imagined we'd be gone from home for so long. I wonder what Mom, Arno and Ren are up to?"

"We can ask them when we get back."

"You're right. Speaking of, what were you up to while Vulcan and I were in there?"

"Nothing much, really. When that Helioptile came, I just hid out and came back here alone. I guess I just trained by myself to get my combat skills up. Never hurts to be prepared."

"Sounds pretty boring…"

"I admit that it was. Anyways, we should get going," he proposed. I nodded in return.

"Good idea. Let's move on."

"So… The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Its past noon now so…" he looked up at the sky before pointing to a direction. "East should be that way." He started flying in that direction. I lagged behind slightly. After a few steps, I looked back.

"I'll see you again someday, I hope, Vulcan," I whispered to myself before hurrying to catch up to Cloud.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

So… Yeah. That's how we lost Vulcan in our journey. But I still believe that once we get back home to Mom and Arno, we'll definitely have a chance to see Vulcan again.

"Luna? Something wrong?" I looked over to the side to see Cloud staring at me with those bright red eyes of his. We were lying on the grass under the starry sky, listening to the wind blow past us.

"Nothing," I smiled, "Just remembering that day we met Fenwick and Vulcan stayed behind."

"That day seven years ago? Again?"

"Can't get it out of my mind. You can't seem to, either, can you? You can still remember how many years ago that was."

"Yeah, I can't either…"

"I wonder how he's doing," I pondered before giggling, "Maybe Fenwick finally sees how Vulcan feels and they're lovers now." Cloud also smiled with me.

"Maybe… We can ask him that when we see him again." I nodded. Yeah, we can. He'll definitely come to visit us when we're home. He promised me…


	5. Chapter 5

Here's a thought. Is there really an antagonist in real life? A 'bad guy', so to say. My father used to say that everybody has their own story to tell, a story unique to each and every one of us. And in that story- wouldn't they be the hero of the story? The protagonist of their own story? In essence, does that mean everyone's the good guy? Then who's the bad guy? Each individual labels someone as an antagonist, but that other person labels themselves as the protagonist, of their own story. An antagonist in my story could be the good guy, and maybe I'm the bad person?

I believe that there really isn't a 'good' and 'bad' clearly defined in this world. Nobody is a hero who rushes off to help everyone when they need help. Nor does anyone want to destroy the world just for the sake of it. Good and bad is black and white. But in this multicolored world, there is no definite black or white, just shades of grey within that may seem black or it may seem white, it may just depend on who's perspective you are looking at it from. Everyone, absolutely everyone, is made up of a mixture of black and white. Even if on the outside they may seem entirely bad, or black, there is at least that little bit of white mixed in, that little bit of good that may as well overpower its counterpart, just that you can't see it.

What I probably am trying to ask is that: Am I the protagonist? Am I the antagonist? Am I both or maybe I am simply nothing? And what about you?

But I digress, let us get on with my story which you have come for.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

After we spent the most part of the night delving into our pasts. Cloud and I woke groggily with the light of dawn. By the way, that lead back then at Sonizor however many years ago? That had led to another one, which then led to another one, and we've been following it ever since. Right now we're heading inland. It's funny, actually; following those leads based on sightings and whatnot led us right round and heading closer to our home, but not quite there yet. We're heading into the human city of Greendale, which was, in a way, similar to Sonizor in that Pokemon were allowed to roam in the streets without a care (except for those metallic monstrosity humans call 'cars').

We both cheered at the sight of the city, it has been so long since we left the last village and I was dying for someone to talk to other than Cloud. Yes, he was my brother. Yes, he has proven useful more than once. No, I cannot endure having only him as the only choice for a conversation partner for over than a month. The last time I had some other person was when we were in the previous village. Cloud couldn't enter any city, town or settlement at all due to the fact that he was a Mew. I had never felt so happy to not be a legendary Pokemon before.

"C'mon, let's go!" I hollered at him, who was lagging behind.

"Hold on, Luna!" I rolled my eyes and turned around to face him.

"What now?"

"I can't just go in looking like this."

"That's your problem, 'innit?"

"I want to go in too, you know?" he sulked, looking down at the ground. I sighed and walked back to him, closing our distance.

"Well, how about you practice that 'Transform' move of yours?" He shivered.

"Last time I did that, it didn't go well, did it?" he argued. He's right on that. The last time he tried to transform into some other Pokemon, he ended up as some kind of weird hybrid between a Mew and a Zorua (apparently he didn't know what to transform into so he chose a Zorua since I was one). That totally weirded me out.

"'Practice makes perfect', isn't that what they say?"

"If you insist…" We both strayed off the road and found ourselves a more secluded clearing within the greenery.

"All right. Let's do it. I assume you'll want to transform into a Zorua, right?"

"It's the most sensible choice since there's one right in front of me. I don't know other species well enough that I could transform into them. You see, when I transform, I have to know-"

"Yeah, yeah. Save the explanation, Cloud. Just transform." He studied me with those crimson-colored eyes that we both shared for a bit before his whole body started glowing slightly. I sure hope nobody else was nearby, otherwise they might investigate the source of the low light. I looked away for a second and when I turned back, he was done.

Before me stood some unknown creature. It was pink, all pink, the same shade as Cloud. It looked similar to a Zorua save for the color and a few other details. Its tail was not _poofy_ , for a lack of a better word. It was narrower and longer, though it was slightly curled like a Zorua's tail. It also didn't have the tuft of fur on its head or on the sides of its cheeks.

"Um… Cloud?" I asked.

"How do I look?"

"B-better than last time. Work on the fur color, tail and the fur on your head and cheeks."

"Really? All right, just a sec." He transformed again. Surprise, surprise, the colour was that of a normal Zorua's, except that he didn't have the red 'socks' at the end of his paws. His whole body was just plain slate grey. The tail was looking better in terms of length, though it still wasn't perfect. There was still no tuft of fur on his head or cheeks. "How about now?"

"You know what, maybe a change of things would benefit you. Try transforming into some other Pokemon."

"Luna, I told you, I don't know-"

"I know! You saw Fenwick back then, didn't you?" I ignored him, "Yeah you did. That was the only other contact with the outside world you had other than me. Try transforming into him! Or maybe try transforming into Vulcan or something."

"Fenwick? You must be crazy. One, I only saw him for less than an hour. Two, that was years ago. And three, if I can't transform into a Pokemon that's right in front of me, what makes you think I can do better with a Pokemon I haven't seen for seven years?"

"Just do it!" I hissed back, making him comply. He just grumbled for a second before closing his eyes to try and remember either what Fenwick or Vulcan looked like. Probably Vulcan, it's the most logical choice. Albeit being annoying about it, he had a point, even I couldn't fully remember what Fenwick or Vulcan looked like. It's just been so long since then. After he finished transforming, I kid you not, my jaw dropped.

In front of me was _the_ most perfect replica of Fenwick the Vulpix I have seen. Well, as far as I can remember. But I felt that there was one thing missing. One distinct characteristic of his. I walked around Cloud and observed him closely. Then it hit me.

"Your eyes, it's not the same as his," I blurted. He pouted in reply.

"Geez, Luna. I'm doing my best and you're picking on the tiny details. And for your information, I chose to retain the same eye color from my original form, I think it suits me better. Plus, it would probably identify me from any potential Vulpix that we may meet in the city. That is, if my transformation is successful." He looked himself over while I was lost for words. "So? Is it okay? I personally think it's adequate."

"Adequate?!" I sputtered. "This is the perfect transformation, save for the eye color! I thought you said that you wouldn't be able to do any better than your pitiful Zorua transformation."

"Hmm…" he hummed before finally shrugging. "I dunno, maybe I was trying too hard with the Zorua and it didn't come naturally to me. But whatever, if this disguise is good enough then we should be on our way into the city, am I right?" I wearily nodded in reply. Whatever works, I guess.

It wasn't long from when we stepped foot into the city that we noticed something out of the ordinary. There were no humans to be found anywhere. Hell, there wasn't any Pokemon around too. It was like walking into a ghost city. We traversed through its barren street randomly, hoping to end up somewhere where the population was hiding.

"What the hell are you doing?!" came a yell. We only had time to turn around before the owner of the voice tackled both of us. The force of his body pushed all three of us behind one of those monstrosities (cars), a docile one, apparently, as it did not emit any roaring nor was it moving. I barely registered an explosion that came from where we were, followed by several 'pings'.

"Bullet seed? Gimme a break," the same voice mumbled. We both looked at him and identified him to be a Croconaw.

"You're a Croconaw!" Cloud helpfully exclaimed, excited to have met another species of Pokemon. The Croconaw rolled his eyes.

"And you're a Vulpix, big deal." He poked his head out to the side of the car to catch a glance at what I deemed to be the offender. "Listen, I'm going to incapacitate them but it will only last a few seconds. I need you to follow me quickly when I start running." He waited for our response before adding, "And don't look back!"

"What happens if we do?" I resisted the urge to hit Cloud. Doesn't he realize that this was some sort of serious situation? Though what it is I am still wondering, and who the hell was this Croconaw? And who was shooting bullet seeds at us? So many questions…

"You'll most likely die," he replied simply. Well that's one way to shut Cloud up. "Ready?" We both nodded. He took a deep breath and peeked out again. What came next was a blur to me but I'm pretty confident in saying that he used the move Screech. Boy, I tell you, I wished I could've torn my ears off because the pain in it, oooh, it was horrible. Nevertheless, I had enough sense to start running after the Croconaw, though I did not look back to check whether Cloud was following nor who the attacker was. We ran in a staggered line across a few blocks before the Croconaw seemed to vanish into thin air right in front of me. It took a tumbling and dirt in my face to tell me that there was a hole – no, a trench – there. A pain in the back told me that Cloud had indeed been following and had fallen into the trench onto my back.

After the ringing subsided. I looked up from under now-Vulpix, who seemed to be unconscious, and saw an amount of assorted Pokemon in a semi-circle around us, all with attacks primed and locked onto us. With myself being barely conscious, I raised my front paws up and said,

"Don't shoot." Well, Cloud wanted to meet lots of Pokemon, didn't he? His wish has been granted.

The next thing I knew; my paws were all tied up. Cloud was also in a 'tight situation', hehe, get it? Okay, I'll stop. We were thrown into a bare room in a human building near that trench. The Croconaw from before was the only one besides us in the room. Cloud was still out cold so he wouldn't be speaking anytime soon.

"So… First off, who are you?" he asked.

"Is this an interrogation or something?" I shot back.

"I ask the questions here. Who are you?"

"Luna."

"Luna who?"

"Just Luna," I replied. I was starting to dislike this croc.

"Well, 'Just Luna', care to tell me who your friend is?"

"Just Cloud."

"Very funny."

"Yeah, I know. Others tell me that." I yawned. Suddenly, the Croconaw stomped the ground, making it shake and scaring the wits out of me.

"Listen closely! I will not tolerate disrespect against me, and definitely not when it comes from a kid with the likes of you!"

"Fine, fine. Ask what you want." He glared at me some more before continuing on.

"Which side you two on?" I returned with a confused look.

"What do you mean which side? Does this have anything to do with that crazy attacker?"

I then noticed that he was wearing some sort of human clothing, a shirt. That was really unlike me, I should've noticed that. But maybe that crazy thing with all the running and screech had me out of whack. Anyways, it was a beige shirt, so it kinda blended in with some parts of his scales. It was plain, but there was some sort of emblem on the right sleeve of the shirt. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a shield with the letters 'ALF' printed on it. Underneath seemed to be a banner with the words 'Rebel against God' on it.

"I'm talking about what side you on! Are you on the ALF-" he pointed to the emblem, "Or are you with the NWI?" he then pointed to what I could only assume was the general direction of where we were attacked from. Now I was thoroughly confused.

"Hold up, ALF? NWI? What the hell are those?" He raised an eyebrow, or something equivalent to that.

"You don't know? Have you been living under a rock?"

"All I know is that some crazy guy attacked us, then you saved us, then somehow you seem to want to attack us too."

"So you two are clueless civilians," he sighed. "That would explain what you were doing in No Man's Land." I could only blink in confusion. He sighed again and looked at us, I could see that his face looked significantly less hostile.

"We are the ALF, the Anti Legendary Faction, and we are at war with the NWI, the New World Initiative. They are upholding the vision of a legendary we've identified as the Light Mew, the legendary who is responsible for the mass murder of Pokemon and humans alike across the region."

Anti… Legendary… Faction? I hope Cloud's transformation lasts, because the last thing we need is for him to transform back into a Mew among these people. And hold on, the Light Mew? Who's that? He said it was a legendary, but I thought I've met all of the legendary pokemon before. I definitely don't remember any named 'Light Mew'.

"Why is the Light Mew going around killing others?"

"Beats me," he shrugged. "Those NWI scum keep saying that it's for the better. Rambling on about how the Light Mew only kills those who do wrong like stealing or something like that. Can't prove it though, so I call bullshit on that. So, what were you two doing walking into the middle of the battlefield?"

"We didn't know there was a war, obviously. Just wonderin' where everyone was."

"Everyone who's not involved evacuated not too long ago to the next city over. There's only us soldiers out here now."

Everyone's gone, huh? It was at this moment that Cloud decided to wake up, though not quite in a conventional manner.

He screamed and suddenly, with great speed I never knew he had, threw a wild punch with one of his paws. That punch, through sheer luck (or misfortune), ended up hitting Croconaw square in the jaw. Croconaw staggered back but remained upright, glaring at Cloud. Meanwhile, the Vulpix seemed to have regained his senses and realized he had attacked the croc, he smiled apologetically.

"Um… Sorry?"

"Forget it. So, where are you two headed now?"

"We'll probably follow the crowd to that town," I replied for us. He took out a map and laid it out.

"Here's where we are," Croconaw said as he pointed to the dot labeled 'Greendale'. "And here's where you want to go." He then pointed to another dot, which was quite far away, labeled 'Blackford'. I groaned as I realized we would have to walk for a long, long time to get there. Cloud just stared at everything in confusion with no idea where he was, what was going on and why were we moving on to the next city already. Oh well, I would have to fill him in later.

"Right, Blackford. How far is that, approximately?" I asked Croconaw.

"Probably 'bout a few weeks, maybe a month's walk if you're slow. And you can leave this city from our side, no need to walk in the middle of the battlefield, yeah?"

"All right then, lead the way." He then rolled the map back up and opened the door, we both followed him out of the room, the building and then the city, where he saw us off.


	6. Chapter 6

Memories. I'm sure everyone has at least one that they treasure and probably more than one that they wish they could forget but can't. I, for one, think that no memories should be ever forgotten. They are what makes us who we are; they do that from the moment we are born and will continue to shape us until that inevitable day that we leave this world. Even though some memories bring with it nothing but pain, even though some memories seem best if they are forgotten; even then, I want to believe that someday, one day, I will be able find the courage to step one foot forward and resume my life living with it with no regrets nor hindrance.

I want to believe that there is nothing to be gained from forgetting something, but rather that we can learn from it and learn to live with it. That is what I believe. How about you? Do you believe the same thing as I do or do you believe that, if possible, you would erase parts of your memory, your being, if it made you feel better?

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

From the moment we set foot in the city, I felt like someone was watching us.

"Hey Cloud, do you feel that? I think someone's watching us," I whispered to him discreetly before almost breaking down crying. There was a reason why I whispered discreetly, yet that seemed to prove elusive to the ever-dense Cloud, who instantly whipped around and look behind us and every which way. Oh, and his six tails smacked me right in the face.

"Who? Where?" he asked a bit too loudly for my liking.

"Can you be louder, I don't think the person watching us, if they do exist, heard you clearly," I grumbled, cradling my nose that was stinging from the blow.

"What do you mean by that? Why would we want them to know that we're onto them?" I suppressed the urge to scream at him.

We continued on in silence, opting to ignore my sixth sense that was yelling at me about how my privacy was being invaded. We had a look around the so called 'Market Town', Blackford. Unlike the few cities we've previously been to, this one was a Pokémon-only town. Pokémon of various species and sizes and colors were wandering around. Peddlers were nagging others to buy their wares. Customers were haggling to get the lowest price possible.

Come to think of it, Cloud and I've barely any money at all. We therefore could not join in on this lively scene in front of us.

Finally, not being able to stand this feeling anymore, I casually turned my head to look behind me, disguising the act as innocently looking around the place. There's no mistaking it, I definitely saw a glint of something reflecting and movement.

"Cloud."

"This place sure is lively, huh?"

"Do not look around and don't speak loudly. Whisper. We're being followed." That froze him for a second before he regained control over his body.

"Where?"

"Dark corner behind us. I've got a plan: Let's lure him into a tight alley and around a corner. We'll wait for him to follow and nab him once he turns the corner," I grinned evilly.

"Classic."

And so, that was how I got knocked out for the rest of the day.

What I could recall was that we did as we planned to; we lured him around the corner and surprised him. I remembered the sight of a plastic/metallic box being swung at me and that was all.

The next time I woke up, it was already night and I had a splitting headache. I looked to the side and saw Cloud, sleeping peacefully, still in his disguise. The next thing I saw was a random Pokémon (I didn't know what their species were called), next to him, also sleeping. The difference was that this Pokémon was tied up with ropes. After checking the surroundings, I confirmed that we had not moved at all, still in that dark alley we used for our 'ambush'. Not wanting to wake them up, I decided to get some more rest, curling up next to my brother for warmth.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Luna?" No, I want five more minutes. "Luna! Wake up, it's past noon!"

Sigh, and I was considerate enough to not wake _him_ up last night, is this how he pays me? I woke up with a growl.

"Thank God, Luna! You're awake!"

"Of course I'm awake," I replied tiredly.

"Hey, uh, Vulpix. I'm sorry for knocking your girlfriend out, alright? Can you untie me now?" I heard from behind me. Oh, right, that weird guy was still there, wasn't he?

"She's my sister!"

"Oh, of course. Sorry for knocking your sister out, can you untie me now?" I could sense that he rolled his eyes. Don't ask me how, I just did.

"Not until you answer a few questions at the very least!"

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

I stood up, turned around and, suppressing my urge to groan from the headache, asked him, "First off, why did you hit me?"

"Who knows?"

"Where are you from?" Cloud asked.

"Who knows?"

"What species are you?"

"Who knows?" All right, I'm starting to get annoyed at this guy.

"I think he looks like a smeargle," Cloud interjected. But of course, everybody ignores Cloud.

"Name?"

"Who knows?"

"What the fuck, dude?!"

"Luna! Language!" Cloud chastised me.

"You're not Mommy, Cloud. Besides, who doesn't know their own name?!"

"All I know is I woke up few days ago in this city with this." He used his tail to point to the plastic/metallic box thing next to him. Oh yeah, the weapon he used against me. I think I've seen humans use similar things to that before. If I remember correctly, they called it a 'camera'.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno? Amnesia?" he answered plainly.

"What's that?"

"You don't know what amnesia is?" He looked surprised at my question. "Now that I look at you closely, both of you are still pretty young. Where are your parents?"

All of us fell silent instantly. We couldn't just go telling a stranger our life story now, could we? His question did remind us of why we were not back home in the first place too.

"Right, not my place to ask," he sighed, "So… Sis-con guy, can you help me out?"

"What's sis-con?" Cloud asked, curious as he always was.

"Figure it out in your own time. Can you untie me now?"

"Fine, fine." And thus, he was free.

"I never imagined my wish would turn out like this…" he mumbled.

"Wish?" I asked.

"Yeah, wish. I made a wish to the statue the night before you guys came."

"Statue?" He looked surprise for a second before sighing.

"Sorry, forgot that you're new here. Let's make a deal." He looked me right in the eyes. I would usually feel creeped out right about then but the seriousness of his expression paralyzed me. "I tell you about the wish-granting statue and you two leave me alone. Sound good?"

"What kind of-"

"Deal!" I interrupted Cloud. To this day, I still don't know why I did make that deal. Maybe deep down in my heart, I wanted one wish granted. Maybe I'd do anything just to have just that one wish granted.

"All right." He sat down as Cloud stared at me curiously. "Here's how it goes… On top of that hill just to the south of the town, there is a statue of the legendary Pokémon Jirachi. It is said that the statue grants one in a thousand wishes, to the one whose heart is pure and true…" He paused. We both looked at him to carry on explaining. "And that's it."

"Wha-?!" I uttered, dumbfounded.

"So I've told you about it. Leave me alone!" he yelled as he jumped up and ran away while we were recovering from the surprisingly compact story.

"That- That- Argh!" I fumed. He told me such a brief description. I could've gotten that detail from anyone! I thought that he would have more specific details and all that about how the statue grants wishes or whatnot. Man, what a letdown.

That night, I was restless. Cloud was already snoring beside me on the grass but I was still staring up at the starry night sky. Was that wish-granting statue story even true? Did that guy just make up a story to get away from us or was he actually serious about it? If it was, how could that be possible? Wouldn't everybody go to it to wish for something all the time?

As time went by, I got more and more curious. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and stood up on my four legs. One in a thousand wishes. But wishes cost nothing, after all… right? Plus, it's close by so I don't even have to wake Cloud up. I'll just be there for a bit and come back after I'm satisfied. He wouldn't even notice that I was gone.

And thus, I walked towards the bare, grassy hill under the full moon. The wind rustled periodically as if whispering words of encouragement to me. Or were they words of warning? Nevertheless, I soon reached upon the hilltop and spotted a little stone structure. It was not that much larger than me in size but it radiated an aura of power that made me feel so much smaller than it.

I sat down and examined the front of it. The Pokémon statue didn't look too old, probably made within the last ten years. It portrayed Jirachi, the slightly weird-looking legendary with what seemed like a star hat on its head and little tags stuck on it. Below the statue was a stone plaque, it read:

" _God created the world on a Monday._

 _On Tuesday, He drew the line between order and chaos._

 _On Wednesday, He arranged each and every number._

 _On Thursday, He permitted the ebb and flow of time._

 _On Friday, God explored every nook and cranny of the world._

 _On Saturday, He rested._

 _And on Sunday, He forsook the world._ "

I took a moment to take that in and tried to figure out what that meant. This world has been forsaken? When I really think about it, it does seem to be really possible. Life is cruel, there is no doubt about that. And the less said about how life is unfair, the better. Just as I was lost in thought for a while, I remembered why I was here in the first place. I had to go back soon, what would Cloud do if he woke up and found out I disappeared? He would totally freak out, hee hee.

Now then, for my wish.

"I wish I can forget-" My throat suddenly blocked up before I could finish it. A stray thought crossed my mind, do I really want to forget my guilt? Do I want to forget my dad and how I was towards him? Wouldn't that just be running away? No, I don't want to forget it. I can't forget my guilt and go on living like nothing's wrong. I shook my head and started over, saying firmly with confidence,

"I wish to be able to meet daddy again."

For a second, I could have sworn that those little tags on Jirachi's 'hat' swayed in the wind but that was impossible. It was made of stone; how could the wind move it? From behind me, I suddenly heard movement. Where had it come from? Was I so lost in thought that I didn't hear something approach me from behind?

I looked behind me and what I saw made me freeze in place.


	7. Chapter 7

**Beta-read by drunkenturtles**

* * *

Control. How much do you think you have? Whether it be control over your appetite, control over your temper or even control of your life itself as a whole; many people wish for it, whether they are aware of it or not. Giving in to whims every now and then isn't bad, I think. It helps us find some happiness in this depressing, cruel world.

But that's not what I meant. My question would be better phrased like this: How much control do _others_ have over your life? You should never let other people take hold the reins of your life and direct it. After all, it is your life, not theirs. You're you, it's that simple. Don't let impressions others leave control how you live your life, for you will only find happiness if you achieve what they have if you live like that. On the contrary, if you live your own life, you can find happiness at every corner here and there.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

I gasped as my body seemed to have frozen up in the chilly night wind. In front of me stood a human male. An adolescent boy, to be specific. His dark hair was flowing in the wind, nigh invisible if not for the red highlights at the tips. His eyes shone with a bright amber color, making my father's face appear in my mind for a second. He, like me, had a surprised expression on his face too. Then, as if time unfroze, he fumbled at his belt and grabbed a ball.

I've seen those balls before. They are evil devices humans use to capture us. Us Pokémon have different views about them though, some say that it represents the bond between us and our human partners while others, like Cloud, simply call them 'evil devices that should never exist'. Nevertheless, I don't plan on being captured before I reach my goal of finding Burst and returning home with Cloud. My body unfroze and I jumped backwards as the ball landed on the ground where I was.

The human clicked his tongue. I narrowed my eyes and barked in return. It was then that I noticed that he held five more of those balls in both his hands. My eyes widened as he threw another one… And another one… And another one. Dodging those was easier said than done, it was as if the balls homed in on me the instant it was thrown. Dodging the fifth ball threw me off balance as it almost hit me and it was then that my hopes sunk. I knew I couldn't dodge the final ball if he threw it.

And throw it he did. I closed my eyes in preparation for being captured. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I wasn't captured; the ball hit me in the nose and, I kid you not, I saw stars. And they weren't the stars in the sky either. Jeez, what do they make those balls from, anyway? It felt like a solid metal sphere hit me in the head and I was stunned for a while.

"What?!" I heard the human exclaim. "Oh shit, that's Amber's ball!"

I did not care for him nor wonder who 'Amber' was. All I had on my mind was shake this concussion off and run. I managed to recover enough to not see doubles and started running down the hill back where I came from. Just as I thought I was home-free and was about to shout my brother's name, I felt something like a vacuum pull me back.

The next thing I knew, everything was dark. No, it wasn't like that time when I was knocked out. It was dark but I could see my body clear as day. It felt like I was floating in nothingness. If nowhere had a middle, then this was it. To make matters worse, I couldn't move either. While the space appeared to stretch to eternity, it was also confined into a tiny area and I couldn't even stretch my legs, let alone my body. If this was inside that ball, then I understand now why Cloud called it evil.

And so, that's how I was captured. I swear… I'm gonna kill them all once they let me out…

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

After some time passed, I felt the familiar 'sucking' feeling. You know, the vacuum-like thing. And just like that, I was outside again. I could feel my pupils contract as the bright sunlight burned my eyes, making my eyes squint instinctively. I swear it was the middle of the night when I was captured and not enough time was spent in that ball to make it morning. Did I fall asleep or something?

Before my full sight returned, I felt another sensation. This one was better. Hell, it felt like paradise. How do I describe it? It felt like a super fluffy feather duster was rubbing my cheeks and chin. Before I realized it, I was making some sort of noise between an affectionate growl, a whine and a purr (even though I'm not a feline).

"Look at how cute she is!" I heard a female voice exclaim from above me.

"You stole my Pokémon…" the male human voice from last night grumbled.

"Aw… is poor Altair salty? I still can't believe you wasted five balls and then threw Amber's ball at her."

"Hey, I panicked, all right?! It was my first time trying to capture a Pokémon!" My sight returned and I looked up above me. A beautiful human face looked back at me. It seemed like the fluffy sensation was from her rubbing my cheeks and chin with her soft hands.

"Hey there, you awake?" she asked me. I stared back in silence. Huh, I'll let you go since you are so talented with your hands. The male, Altair, however, I had a bit of beef with him. I looked at him and growled. "She doesn't seem to like you much. Wonder if it's because you basically socked her in the face with a ball," the girl said to him and his face turned slightly pink from what I guess would be embarrassment.

"Don't have to rub it in, Lucia." Hm… The girl's name was Lucia, huh? What a pretty name.

"Hey," she made me turn my attention back to her. "I'm Lucia. Now, what should we call you?"

Since I knew she couldn't understand me, I just tilted my head and prayed that I won't be stuck with a stupid name. Even the idea of being called something else other than what my parents gave me made me a bit uneasy.

"Mirage, 'cause you make illusions?" I shook my head.

"How about Darky?" Altair interjected. I turned to him and growled loudly, sending him a glare. Partly because I hate him and partly because of the retarded name he came up with.

"I think she wants you to stay out of this," Lucia deadpanned to him and I nodded. "Then, how about… Rin?" I shook my head again. "Hm… Umbra?" Another shake. "Eh… I think Umbra sounds cool. Oh well… How about Luna?"

My eyes widened and I nodded my head fervently. How did she manage to guess my real name?!

"Wow… seems like you really like that name. Okay then, from now on, I'll call you Luna!" I gave a happy bark in reply as my mood was lifted slightly. At least I wouldn't be stuck with an idiotic name like 'Darky'. Seriously, he must be mentally ill or something to think that I would like a name like that.

Then came the biggest concern that I somehow forgot: Cloud.

"Cloud! CLOUD! Where are you?!" I yelled into the forest. No reply. "CLOOOUUUD!"

"What's wrong, Luna? Are you hungry?" Lucia asked, concerned.

"Maybe she's homesick or something." I nodded at his suggestion.

"Hm… It's a bit too late to let her go now, I think. We've been walking the whole day and even I can't remember how to go back there."

All my hopes sunk. If they didn't know how to go back then I, who was stuck in that damned ball, wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of finding my way back to Cloud. All I could hope for is that Cloud would be smart and go back home. I would find my way back home, too, since it was quite near where I was captured, I think. That way, we could meet each other again. I slumped back down on Lucia's lap, totally drained.

"I'm sorry, Luna. I didn't know you had your family there…" she whispered to me. I shook my head in reply. She couldn't have known anyways; I was alone back on that hill. How stupid of me to go wandering in the night all by myself. "Here, you must be hungry."

In her hand were a few, quite large, brown pellets. I sniffed it curiously before trying one of them. Can't say much about it though, it was not as good as Chef Blair's food but I'd already figured that out given that, frankly, it looked disgusting. But to be honest, it wasn't too bad. I just hope that I'd get some variety in flavor if she intended to feed this stuff to me for the foreseeable future. Once I finished the food and jumped off her lap, she stood up and brushed her dress.

During the course of the day, I met the others in her travelling group including (the even more idiotic than Altair) Aarick and his Pokémon, Chomper. Amber was a Litten that had next to no emotions and relied heavily on sarcasm on her day-to-day basis. Lucia's other Pokémon, Fane, was a pretty cool guy. Kinda like Ren, actually, but I can't be too sure since it's been so long since I've seen that Shinx.

Once she fed me my evening meal though, she did something that I was appalled of: she tried to call me back into that ball.

"C'mon, Luna. Time for bed." She then held up my ball and pressed a button on it. A beam of red light shot out but I dodged it. "Hm?" she hummed in surprised and tried again. Of course, I dodged again and glared at her. "You don't like being in the ball?" I nodded my head furiously. "Weird, I thought all Pokémon would like to be in their ball." I shook my head. If she thought that then she was severely mistaken. In the end, she allowed me to stay outside the ball the whole time, saying that I could serve as a warning alarm or something during nighttime while they slept. Whatever works, I guess; at least I won't have to stay in there.

That night, all of us were out of our balls while the humans slept. I saw this as an opportunity and went over to the sleeping form of my master.

"Sorry. I like you and all but I can't stay here. I need to go back," I whispered before turning my back and walking away. However, to my surprise, I found that my limbs would not take me further than the edge of the camp. I could step back closer to the humans though, but not further away.

"That's not gonna work, Luna."

"Amber!" I looked back and saw her.

"Trust me, I've tried it before," she continued, "Once you're captured, you can't leave."

"What do you mean?"

"That damn ball's not just for caging you in when you're called in by it. It also makes you unable to escape its proximity. You can't go too far from your master unless they permit it."

"You've tried to escape before?"

"Oh, no. Life with my master's just _so_ good that I don't care about my freedom or the family I've left behind at all," she sneered, rolling her eyes.

"Oh… Sorry."

"No need to be sorry, dear. It's just the consequence of being careless enough to be captured."

"I don't think they're too bad though. Lucia's especially nice and smart, except that one time when she thought I'm a girl," Fane suddenly appeared and gave his opinion.

"You only think that 'cause your master is not as stupid as mine," Amber replied. I left them as they got into yet another quarrel and went back to Lucia. Seeing as my first escape attempt failed, I guess I'll try again later. But I was exhausted from the day so I decided to follow my master and fall asleep next to her.

The next morning, after being hand-fed my breakfast, we set off walking again. I won't admit that I understand why we're just walking aimlessly but it got tiring fast. At one point, I ran and jumped onto Lucia's shoulder and sat there.

"Oh? Are you tired?" I nodded in reply before resuming my observation of the surroundings so that I won't miss any landmarks that may indicate where I am in relation to my home or just anywhere I know. This went on for a couple of days with me trying to escape many times but ultimately failing. I just couldn't get too far from her. Thankfully, or not, none of the humans suspected me of trying to escape and still cared for me.

To be honest, it wasn't all that bad. My master took care of me and I grew closer to Amber, Fane and Chomper.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

One day, we strayed off the path and into the forest just because we decided it was starting to get too boring, simply fighting other trainers and just walking. Even trainers were rare to come by. Anyways, yeah, we strayed off path with the guidance of my master, who was the most competent of the group of humans. I'll leave out all the boring parts like fighting caterpies (which I found out that Lucia was scared of) and running away from beedrills. I'll only tell you the interesting thing:

I found an arcanine.

"Hey, can we take a break yet?" Aarick asked.

"Now? We've only been walking for three hours," Lucia retorted. "What a wimp…"

"Hey! I heard that!"

The walk then progressed on in silence. That was, until my sensitive ears heard some Pokémon talking. What was weird was that it seemed to be talking to himself.

"No! Don't you get it? She said 'See you later!' That means that I left a good impression! … No, you're wrong, I definitely gave an okay impression. Yes, I admit that I stuttered a bit. A _bit_!"

And it went on like that. At one point, Lucia also heard it; of course, not what he was saying, but as him saying his species' name over and over again. She signaled for me to go forward and scout out the Pokémon as we've done many times before.

"It's an arcanine. Be extra careful, I want to capture him," she whispered to me. I crouched and slowly moved forth to investigate and soon stumbled upon said Pokémon, who was sitting down and looking a bit flustered as he continued the conversation by himself.

"Dee, do you think she'll show up? … But to her I'm still a stranger or something… No- I mean, we only had one conversation so far, in that restaurant! … Did I sound like a weirdo when I asked to meet her somewhere quiet when we've just met? … Ugh, I'm so nervous right now. Is it too soon to confess to her?"

I blinked rapidly. Was this dog crazy or something? Oh wait, maybe he's doing something like daddy did back then… telepathy, was it? That would explain it.

"Feint attack!" I heard my master call out. This call shocked the arcanine as he probably wasn't expecting any company. I obliged and walked up to the big dog.

"Who are- Oh shit!" he panicked as realization settled in and I tackled him hard, catching him off-guard. He was still stunned from the attack when a Pokéball flew and hit him. First time seeing a Pokémon being sucked into the ball made me stare at it (wondering how such a big guy got into that tiny ball) for a second before being thrown off balance as Lucia tackle-hugged me.

"We did it, Luna! We captured an arcanine!"

Suddenly, my sight turned white and my whole body went numb. No, I didn't get knocked out again... did I? I was in that state for what felt like hours but who knows? Maybe my sense of time was messed up just like my sense of touch (I couldn't feel anything at all, like I said).

Finally, the sensation disappeared and my sight returned. I could see everyone, and by that I meant the human trio, staring at me. I tried to walk towards them but suddenly fell down. What was this? I soon discovered that it wasn't my clumsiness that made me fell, but that my whole body structure had changed.

I was no longer a zorua.

* * *

 **{A/N} Ah… It's been a long time since I put an author's note at the end of a chapter. First of all, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and story so far and will continue reading it (even though I doubt I can write fast enough for you to not forget about the whole story so far every time a new chapter is posted).**

 **Anyways, the reason I am writing this a/n is that I have some bad news to announce. Firstly, it is that time of year again and I will be mainly focused on my revision for the upcoming exams so any update/writing I do will be erratic (as if it's not erratic enough already), if not non-existent. Hopefully I'll still find some time every now and then to open my Word document and start typing. The other thing is even worse for most of you, I am officially declaring one of the other story on this account, Path to Vengeance, as incomplete and dropped/cancelled. I am aware that most of you know that it hasn't been updated in forever and a lot of you are probably still waiting for it to be updated but the reason it hasn't is complicated and ties in with why I am dropping it. I will only say that it is because of the lack of planning and the lack of time that led to its state like this and hopefully you can understand it. Just know that I do so with regret but I cannot do anything more, it will fill me with more regret if I leave it as it is for longer, keeping your hopes up that one day it will be updated.**


	8. Chapter 8

Let's talk about change. No matter who you are, or even what you are, you will experience change. Physical change, habitual change, change in thought patterns… Everyone changes lest they be left behind by the ever-changing world, cast aside by society and branded as too stubborn to adapt.

As with most things, change can be either good, bad or neutral. It can be to blend in or adapt, or it could be to stand out amongst the crowd, to show that you are unique. I envied Cloud, he has the ability to change his physical form at will, albeit still needing quite a bit of practice with it. But that was before I discovered my true self and that zorua and its evolution line can manipulate illusions. And those illusions are not constrained to optical/visual illusions either. But then again, changing other's perspective of you is still different from actually changing yourself.

I will not ask if you will change yourself or not since I already know that you will, whether you are aware of it or not. But rather, I want to ask if you would change yourself for the better or for worse. Of course, you would most likely answer 'for the better' but what you probably don't realize is that the question runs a bit deeper than that. Have a think about it.

There's a second bit I want to talk about. The red string of fate. What do you think about it? An invisible, yet red, string that ties us to our destined partner. According to legend, it may stretch, it may twist and it may tangle; but it shall never break. It is a way for us to find our specific partner, whom we are fated to spend the majority of our life with happily… What was that? Do I think that your father and I were fated to meet? Well, I'd like to believe so but there is no way to know. All I know that if we were, I am glad that it was him.

Anyways, while the concept may sound nice and romantic, here's a thought that passed through my head: Does that mean we get no choice? Even if it means that we will be happy with our destined partner, does that mean we have no way of choosing who we want at all? Does that mean that our freedom of choice is an illusion? Is our whole life, from our birth to our death, already planned out and labeled as 'our destiny'?

I am a believer of fate and destiny, but I also want to believe that I have a choice over where my life is headed. The two contradict each other though, making me unsure of what I believe in anymore. Which one do you believe in though?

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

So… I was no longer a zorua…

"Luna…" Lucia whispered and we stared at each other. She then exclaimed, "YOU EVOLVED! You evolved, Luna! Holy shit, I never thought you would evolve this quickly! I have a zoroark on my team now. Both of you, eat my dust!"

"Wow… that's the first time I've seen a Pokémon evolve," Altair mumbled.

"Same," his brother added.

I tried to walk again only to fall on my front. Since there was no other way, I crawled using just my (new) hands and claws over to my master.

"Still not used to walking in your new form?" she asked me. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Of course I'm not used to it, I've only been a zoroark for less than a minute and if I did, I would've walked over to her. "I guess we can rest here for the rest of the day then. Luna will need to get used to her new body and you two pussies needed a rest."

"Don't call me that," Altair pouted as he saw me snicker at her suggestion.

By nightfall, I managed to relearn how to stand, walk, run and jump. I was surprised at how everything looked so different now that I was taller than Lucia and the two idiots and how my physical strength and ability seemed far superior from when I was still a zorua.

The others, except the arcanine, were let out for our dinner. Needless to say, they were quite shocked at my evolution.

"Wow, Luna! You evolved already?!" Fane exclaimed, excitement sparkling in his eyes. "I hope I can evolve soon too!"

"I hope I can evolve soon too! Maybe Aarick will play with me more!" Chomper added.

"You must've had quite a bit of experience in battling and all that before you were captured then, seeing as you didn't really gain too much experience from the few battles you've had with Lucia, am I right?" Amber asked. She was the least surprised of the three Pokémon.

"Well… I guess you can say that," I replied a bit bashfully. Truthfully, I didn't think that my training sessions with Arno back then did much to further my battling skills. Quite often I was slacking off and munching on snacks while hiding from him as he scoured the mansion in search of me.

"Congratulations, Luna," she continued and flashed me one of her rare smiles.

"I guess it's time for you to meet your new teammate!" Lucia finally said once we finished our meal. Without delay, she let out the arcanine for us to see.

"Wh-where am I? Why is it night?" he mumbled as he looked around. He finally focused on Lucia, our master.

"Hm… Male arcanine… Wait, you are male, right?" she then bent over as if to look under him. Before she did see, though, he gave an indignant cry and nodded. "How about I name you… Pyro?"

I instantly cried out and shook my head fervently. No way am I going to allow someone else to have my father's name while I'm around. To my surprised, the arcanine also refused by barking and shaking his head. I supposed he didn't like the name either.

"Come on, guys. Don't you know that coming up with a good name is hard?" she whined. "Fine, how about Lynk?"

"Lynk?" he huffed before nodding in reply, "I guess that's not too bad of a name for a captured Pokémon."

"So, Lynk, this is Luna, Fane, Amber and Chomper." Lucia pointed to each of us as she did the introduction.

"What kind of name is Chomper?" he asked me, "And hold on, did you evolve from fighting me?"

"Yeah, I did. And don't ask why his name is Chomper, one of the idiotic human twins came up with it. I almost got stuck with one too."

"Huh, lucky that you didn't," he huffed, nodded once and walked away before lying down, facing away from us. I guess he wasn't the social type.

Later that night, I caught him trying to escape. It really did remind me of a few days ago when I pretty much did the same thing.

"You can't move, can you?" I asked as I saw his face twist in confusion.

"For some reason…"

"A wise person once told me: 'Once you're captured, you can't leave'. Something to do with the ball and it keeping you within your master's proximity." His ears drooped as he heard this. I think I even heard a suppressed sob.

"This sucks…"

"Hey," I said as I approached him. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not. I've been running for over half my life before deciding to settle down, only to get caught by a stupid trainer! I even had a chance to be with the woman of my dreams! At least, I think I had a chance… And for the first time in over ten years, that annoying best friend of mine isn't reading my mind or even be around!"

"I'm sorry, Lynk." Not knowing what to say as he unloaded his mind, I opted to apologize for getting him captured. He just shook his head.

"Don't worry… I guess it's partly my fault."

"What was she like?" I continued to ask when the conversation looked like it was about to fall into an uncomfortable silence.

"She was a Lycanroc called Cyndi, with the prettiest brown and white fur and a smile that made me swore she was an angel. I knew she was out of my league but I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't at least try to ask her out. Plus, Dee told me that I had a chance; though I don't know if he was actually telling the truth or just tricking me. Her voice was soft, even more so than that fluffy tail of hers, and she spoke very politely, too…" I blinked a few times. I wanted to help Lynk get over that sadness of being captured by striking up a conversation to divert his attention but this was starting to get a bit creepy, listening to him pretty much fawning over her.

"I'm sure you're good enough for her, Lynk."

"Thanks. But now that I really think about it, she was way out of my league. It's a mystery why she doesn't have a mate yet… Say, do _you_ have a mate yet?" I blinked again. Was he hitting on me? It sounded like he was hitting on me. He was hitting on me, wasn't he?

"Uhh… No. Not yet." I half-expected something along the lines of 'Then how about I be your mate?' to come out of his mouth.

"Oh. Well, I guess you _do_ seem a bit young."

"Hey, I'm not that young!" I exclaimed.

"All right, all right. I hope you find the right guy that will treat you well soon," he chuckled.

"Thanks. Now come on, let's go back to the camp."

"Fine, fine."

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Over the course of a few days, we managed to get Lynk over his sadness and made him socialize more. However, the question he asked me still remained on my mind. Namely the 'Do you have a mate yet?' question. It made me think, when do others usually find mates? Is it still too early for me to start or maybe other Pokémon my age already has one?

Maybe Ren could be my mate? Though I haven't seen him in so long I don't know what he's like now. Then… Well… Whatever, I told myself I would find one when the time is right. I couldn't wait 'till the day I did find _the one_ though. I wanted someone to be by my side and love me as much as I'll love him.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Lucia's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "We're going to have another training session with Altair."

I looked at her face more closely. I should be the one asking if she was okay, Lucia's complexion was off, her face seemed redder and her eyes seemed more distant than usual. Or was that just my imagination coupled with my enhanced senses as a zoroark? Anyways, I nodded back to her, deciding not to worry too much about her. Lucia's strong, she'll be fine.

A while into my battle with Amber, I started noticing something weird with Lucia. She would react rather slowly to Altair's commands to Amber and would sometimes mess up with planning my moves and counter-attacks. I looked back multiple times but she seemed just fine, and nobody else had noticed yet.

As the battle progressed, I was getting more and more battered by Amber and Lucia's decisions seemed to get all the more erratic and risky. I sent her a little growl every now and then to let her know I was having a hard time but either she ignored it or she didn't hear it.

"This fight seems to be going well for you, doesn't it?" Amber called out as we stared off. "She seems sickly, does she not?"

"I thought that, too. Not to be offensive but she is usually smarter than this." Finally, Altair noticed her.

"Hey, Lucia?"

"What?"

"Are you okay? You look weird."

"Fuck off. Don't call me weird," she growled back.

"No, I don't mean it that way. You look… Are you sick?"

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy." She touched her forehead briefly.

"You're definitely unwell. Let's call off the training for now." He started towards her.

"I said I'm… okay." To everyone's surprise, her legs suddenly gave out and she collapsed like a puppet with its string cut. I rushed towards her first, honestly concerned for her. Her face was redder than ever and was scorching to the touch. She had a fever and it was spiking and she was breathing heavily.

"Aarick!" the guy yelled towards his twin back at camp, "Get some cold water!"

"Why?!"

"Just do it!"

I picked the barely conscious girl, being mindful of my claws.

"Sorry about this, Luna," I heard her whisper weakly.

We got back to the camp and I laid her down on top of her sleeping bed. Altair got a towel and soaked it in cold water that his twin got and placed it on her forehead.

"You pushed yourself too hard partying last night just because Luna evolved, didn't you?" he asked. Wait, was it my fault that she was this sick?

"Shut up," she replied.

"Get well soon, all right?"

"Of course, otherwise who would look after you two idiots?" she chuckled, making him laugh too.

"Hope you get better soon, Lucia," I said, although I knew she couldn't understand me. She petted me on the head.

"Thanks for carrying me here, Luna. And don't worry, I'll be fine after a little rest." I nodded and lay down beside her. Lynk suddenly came over and lay down beside me.

"Thought you'd be lonely if it was just you and her."

"That's very considerate of you," I replied, smiling.

"Well," he yawned, "I'm just tired. And I don't want to be around the 'two idiots', as she puts it."

"So… Who's this 'Dee' that you've talked about?"

"Hm? Dee?" he looked confused for a second before realizing. "Oh, yeah! Well… I don't really know his real name. He told me he was called 'D.C.' so I just called him Dee. He's a great guy, a Meowstic. I met him, like, almost nineteen years ago. He always reads my mind and annoys me with it but he's a great friend. Helped me more than once. Sixteen years ago, we did something together. Something that others could say was wrong and bad."

I looked at him for a second. By that, did he mean… _that_? No, he said he met the woman of his dreams so it couldn't be that those two…

"I know what you're thinking. It wasn't that," he deadpanned. "Anyways, he was the one who gave me a chance with Cyndi, really."

"Wow… That's a great friend, that is."

"Yeah, he's great. Though he could stand to not read my mind as often. He's…" he suddenly trailed off.

"Lynk?"

"He's right here!" he suddenly yelled and leapt up before sprinting away. I saw that Lucia had fallen asleep and so I ran after him. Not long afterwards, I found him looking really frustrated. I guess that was how far the ball let him go.

"This. Damn. Mind. Control!" he growled angrily as he tried to go further but ultimately froze up.

"Enjoying the captured Pokémon life?" A voice suddenly spoke from in front of us.

"Dee!"

"Nice to see you too. Do you know how long it took me to track you down?" The Meowstic appeared and switched his gaze to me. "Hm? Ooh…" he uttered wondrously before giving a big grin.

"What?" I asked, slightly creeped out by his stare.

"Nothing~" he replied playfully. "So, how goes it, Lynk? I can't believe you are friends with her," he gestured to me.

"Of course you start reading my mind straight away. I was just telling her about how you always do that. And why would it be weird for me to be friends with Luna?" Lynk mumbled.

"Don't mind me. And Lynk's not a bad name, you know? It could be way worse than that. Anyways, I'm D.C." he held out his paw. I shook it.

"I'm Luna."

"Well, nice to meet you-" Before he was able to finish his sentence, a ball came flying through the air and hit him, sucking him into the cramped abyss inside. Both Lynk and I whipped back and saw Altair fist-pumping.

"Yes! My first Pokémon!"

"Though that's my ball," Aarick said indifferently. He didn't seem to mind it much.

"Technically, I'm your first Pokémon. Stupid human," Amber sighed. Altair picked it up and let Dee out as both Lynk and I stared at him.

"Ugh, what was that for?!" Dee shouted at the boy, who suddenly looked shocked.

"You- You can speak?!"

"Duh, of course! What did you expect of a psychic type like me?! Telepathy's one of the basic things we know. Man, that wasn't cool. I was in the middle of speaking with Luna, you know?"

"Um… Sorry, I guess?"

"You better be, man." He then turned to me. "Anyways, sorry about that, Luna."

"Don't worry. We all know that this guy's an asshole," I replied.

"Hold up, why can't I understand you now?" Dee groaned and turned back to face the guy.

"What makes you think I want you to hear everything I say?"

"Told you he was an idiot," I commented, smiling.

"And Luna says you're an idiot," the Meowstic relayed, grinning.

"I am not!" Altair exclaimed at me, to which I just stuck my tongue out at.

"Just… Just get outta here, dude. I want to talk with my friends here, all right?" Dee said, pointing to the camp (that somehow he knew the location of).

"I thought Pokémon respected their trainers," he mumbled, slowly turning away and walking back.

"You're mistaken. Why would we respect those who haven't earned it? Think about it," Dee called to the retreating human before turning back to us.

"Causing headaches as usual. You don't change, do you?" Lynk asked.

"You say that like you haven't seen me in years. And you, how quickly do you change from one female to another?" he grinned mischievously. I looked at the arcanine, who seemed to be avoiding both our sights with great effort.

"Shut up…" he mumbled.

"Well, I guess it's up to you who you want as your mate; not my problem, really. As for you, my dear Luna, I have but one sentence to say to you right now: What you've been seeking for all these years is closer to you than you think."

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

I pondered on his words as I lay there besides Lucia, who has taken to snuggling into my long mane in her sleep. How does he know I'm looking for someone? No, he was psychic, it must be an easy thing to read another's mind like Lynk said. Does that mean he knew about Burst and where he is?

"Mm…" Lucia twisted around in her sleep, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Hm?" She woke up. "Luna?"

"Yes?" I replied back. She petted me some more, making me smile widely.

"Thanks for staying with me," she whispered in my ear.

"Have something you want to say to her?" a voice suddenly rang out in the tent. It took me a moment to recognize it as Dee's.

"Whoa, so you're the Meowstic that Altair captured," Lucia mumbled wondrously as she sat up in her sleeping bag and reached out to Dee, who seemed wary of her hand.

"Don't worry, she won't hurt you," I assured him.

"I'm not scared of that. I'm afraid of what I would do if she messes up my hair or ears."

"You're pretty cute, aren't you?" Lucia spoke, smiling and petting him softly.

"Hoooly shit. What is this?" Dee purred.

"Her petting skills are good, right?"

"It's beyond good, it's legendary! I had no idea humans can do this!"

"Good to see that you're enjoying it but I should go back to sleep before my fever spikes again." She then put her hand to her forehead for a moment before laying down again and closing her eyes.

"Thanks for the petting. You're good at it." I assumed that he told her through telepathy too as her eyes suddenly shot open but she remained still.

"Tell her I hope she gets better," I told Dee.

"Luna says she loves you and hopes you get better." Not exactly what I said, but I let it go. Lucia turned to face me, probably doubting what he said, so I nodded to confirm it.

"We've got a lot to discuss, but I guess that can wait 'till tomorrow." She then closed her eyes again and went back to sleep, cuddling my mane again.

"Your mane's pretty soft, isn't it?" The feline laid his head down on my mane too, intending to sleep right there. Not that I mind people doing that, it didn't feel bad to have people lay down on it.

The next morning, we all woke up early like ever except Lucia, who was still asleep. I touched my forehead with hers, too wary of using my hands because of the claws, and felt that her fever had not gone down. I took a towel, dipped it in water and placed it on her head to help her cool down.

"Lucia?" a voice came from outside the tent. "Are you up yet?"

I gave a bark and unzipped the tent from inside, revealing Altair outside. He came in and placed his palm on her forehead before jerking it back.

"Whoa! She's burning up!" he exclaimed. "Aarick! Get some more cold water!"

"What are you shouting for?" Lucia suddenly groaned as she woke up. She tried to sit up but Altair pushed her back down gently.

"You need to stay there, don't push yourself. I'll make breakfast. Luna, make sure she doesn't push herself." He then headed off as I gave a little salute.

"I'm guessing my fever hadn't gone down?" I nodded in reply. She gave a long, tired sigh. "Fuuuuuck… This sucks…"

"I made a little porridge for you." Altair came back with a bowl filled with some sort of creamy sludge, the mere sight of which made me disgusted. I guessed Lucia felt the same as she was quite hesitant in accepting it. "I'll be outside if you need anything."

"This looks like shit," she complained. I could only agree. I watched her as she took a bite and started choking. "Oh fuck, that tastes horrible. Did he put dead rats in this or something? I'm sorry but I can't eat this. Luna, could you be so kind as to take this outside and throw it away?" I nodded again and took the bowl before sneaking outside. As soon as I was hidden behind some shrubbery, I started pouring the 'food' out of the bowl.

"What'cha doin'?" Dee appeared behind me.

"I think you already know."

"True. You catch on quick. So the kid's a horrible cook? Is there anything he _can_ do?" he asked, smiling.

"As far as I can see? Nothing. Yet I'm already sensing some connection between him and my master for some reason. I can't say I like it."

"Are you jealous?"

"I am not."

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure."

"Are you really sure?"

"Yes, I am really sure that I am not jealous of that dumb kid."

"Your mind says different," he snickered.

"It's lying to you then," I deadpanned simply as I shook the bowl to get rid of the last of the slime.

"Wow, I've never heard of that one before." He was genuinely impressed at my indifference to having my mind read.

I then walked back to the camp and slammed the bowl on top of the brat's head.

"Ow! What's that for, Luna?!"

"Tell him to never cook again," I told Dee, who was behind me.

"Luna says 'go kill yourself'. Oh, and you'd do the world a great favor if you never cook again, by the way," he relayed. Eh, not what I said but I couldn't disagree.

"That's so mean, Luna," he pouted as he took the bowl off and wiped his head with a handkerchief. I just huffed in reply.

"Meh. I mean, you did feed her master some kind of sludge that looks like it belongs in a bio-waste bag in a landfill," Dee continued.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" He then made way over to Lucia's tent and opened the flap. Inside, Lucia was eating a ration bar. "Luna says my porridge sucks…"

"She's speaking the truth." Lucia took another bite. "Otherwise I wouldn't be eating my emergency rations. You should be grateful to eat my cooking for all the meals instead of your disgusting slop."

"Fine…" he sighed and clapped his hands together and bowed his head as if praying to a shrine. "Thank you for the food you've provided."

"Good. Now leave me alone."

With that, we all left the tent.

That night, I witnessed quite an event. Lucia was asleep in her tent after having another one of her rations instead of the goop Altair offered. Altair was quite tired after being on the receiving end of some verbal abuse by Lucia and me (through Dee).

Of course, I'm not asleep yet as the night's still young. As most people believe, we dark types have a bit of trouble falling asleep before midnight. So I did the one thing that came to mind, spy on Aarick with Lynk.

"He's not doing much…" Lynk yawned. "Did you have to drag me from my bed for this?"

"I'm not spying on this retard alone. I need someone to pull me out if I start sinking down into the depths of stupidity because of this guy."

"Wow… talk about hate."

"Oh, look. He's having a smoke."

"I'll never understand why he does it. It smells terrible, for one," he grumbled.

"Humans… Humans…" A voice whispered out from somewhere to our side.

"Sshh… what's that?" I, in turn, whispered to the dog next to me.

"Human!" the voice suddenly shouted. Aarick suddenly shouted as a Pokémon latched and bit his leg.

"Argh! Fuck! Is that you, Chomper?"

"Who's Chomper?" the voice replied, earning a gasp from Aarick.

"You're a Psychic Pokémon too?!"

"No, I got hit by a Psychic TM by my old trainer against my will. But more importantly, can I eat your soul?"

"Wh-what?! Hell no! Stop fucking around." He stared down at the slightly translucent gengar biting on his leg.

"Of course, it won't be for nothing…" the gengar gave a wide, sinister grin.

"… Go on." As expected of the shallow kid, Aarick fell for it.

"He can't be seriously thinking of selling his soul to a gengar, can he?" Lynk asked beside me.

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"I will possess you until you die, and only after your death will I take your soul," the ghost whispered.

"Isn't that worse off or something?" The boy flicked the shortened cigarette at the ghost, observing it drop straight through the Pokémon and onto the dirt.

"Nah. I've done this multiple times and most humans take it. See, when I possess you, I let you be in control and so basically, you'll get my Pokémon powers! So… Deal?"

"I get to pass through walls and blow shit up with Shadow Balls and curse people?" He suddenly looked very interested.

"Yeah. And of course, you will be able to speak to Pokémon like every other Pokémon do."

"Shouldn't we stop him or something?" Lynk started to look a little nervous.

"No. But we should get out of here now, I think." I dragged the dog back with me towards camp, leaving the dumbest human alone with a cunning ghost. What could possibly go wrong?

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The next morning, I found my diary (this one that I'm reading to you right now) opened to a random page in the middle of the book and that someone had written in it.

Of course, I felt annoyed since this is the diary that belonged to my father and he gave it to me when he passed away. I didn't want anyone to touch it. Looking at it briefly, I saw that it was DC's writing. I was about to give him a piece of my mind, and maybe a few Night Slashes while I'm at it. But then I saw the title and it piqued my curiosity. Here, I'll read it all out to you.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

My psychological analysis of Luna's obviously flawed mind.

(Yeah, I know you're reading this, Luna. Suck it up and deal with it.)

Reading minds isn't easy. Well, for non-psychic types, that is. For us psychics, it's pretty much second nature. I can't really explain to others how to do it. How do I describe it? Yes, it's like riding a bike. When someone asks you how to ride a bike, you might say 'balance yourself and pedal'. Then they go on and ask, 'how do you balance on the bike?'. To that you can choose to explain the technical way of shifting your center of mass so that it isn't on either side of the bike frame but in line with it or some nerdy stuff like that but no matter how much you explain, they can and probably will come asking how you actually do it. Of course, the only real, suitable explanation that pops into your head will be 'you just do it'. You don't know how, but you just do it. Mind reading's just like that, you just do it.

Upon reading Luna's mind, I was overwhelmed by what I felt and saw and heard. Some of her thoughts scared me while some made me laugh. But for the most part, it was blurry as if she wasn't really thinking anything specific at all. One thought stood out from the rest though (think of a scattered pile of paper and seeing one, face up sheet dead center of the mess with no other papers near it). That thought was connected to her late father. I will not say much about it though, due to reasons that you do not need to know, Luna. Anyway, you should know it already since it _is_ your mind after all.

Some other less blurry thoughts included her brother, Cloud, and how she might like to yank his tail or ears off sometimes out of annoyance. One was of how she would totally destroy Burst whenever she saw him. Another was of how she finds me so annoying she doesn't even know how to deal with me (ooh, how scary).

Some other thoughts that are a bit further away from the dark side includes an imaginary picture of what her mate should look like dotted with little criteria that included pretty much every single bit of detail like 'has to have perky ears' or 'has to be warm to snuggle with in winters'.

These embarrassing thoughts aside, there were other little snippets such as 'protect Lucia from the two idiots' and 'don't let the better idiot (Altair, I suppose) get together with Lucia'. These were pretty surprising thoughts and wishes about her master's safety and wellbeing, dare I say even a bit touching. I can only say that these originate from the pokéball's influence as the likelihood of the violent and slightly psychopathic zoroark being able to think this of her own accord is virtually zero.

Steering away from this and back to the violence that took her mind by storm. They did not only appear in normal thoughts bubbles and the occasional plans but even in graphical forms that made me shake and shiver right to the tip of my two tails. And the victims in them varied greatly, from even her brother and stepbrother to seemingly random Pokémon like the croconaw that actually helped her. This led me to believe that she inhibits mild-to-serious traits of a sociopath.

In conclusion, Luna fits in perfectly with a well-known condition that is pretty easy to diagnose even without my super professional analysis, even with the additional violent tendencies included. To be honest, even I knew it before I read her mind. There is no doubt about it.

Luna Umbraculo is an asshole.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

After reading all that, I almost tore the book in half. Thankfully, I had enough sense to hold back myself and gently closed it and storing it back in my safe place, my large mane.

Walking out, I saw Lucia making breakfast for everyone as they were talking together around a large tree stump that served as a table. It made me feel better when I saw that she had overcome her fever and was back in action, but that alone would not put me off my sole mission right now. On a side note, nothing seemed out of the ordinary with idiot number two, so I guess he might've actually been smart enough to not agree to the ghost's deal.

I quickly walked towards the group and pulled the blue cat to the side.

"Hey. Morning, Luna," he greeted. "You get my little doctor's note?"

When we were out of earshot, I spun him round and faced him.

"Yes, I did in fact get it." I smiled widely. "If you are looking for a fight then you can just ask. I'm always willing to Night Slash your little ass over to Giratina anytime."

"You see; this is just proving my analysis correct. Of course, I already know that I'm right but it's always good to have confirmation from the patient," he laughed. "Although I know already, tell me what you are angry about?"

"Aside from your blatant disregard of privacy and the word choice that makes me think you wrote all that just to make my blood boil? A lot, actually!"

"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret- it leads only to evil. As it is said-" I hit him over the head.

"Don't act all righteous when you've just written _that_ in my diary!"

"I'm just saying what I see. And depending on how you look at it, it could be valuable advice for you if you want to get that perky-eared, warm mate of yours." He snickered as he finished the sentence. This cat... I wanted to rip his guts out and feed it to Chomper but it would only prove his point.

"On an unrelated point," he finally said after he finished laughing at my embarrassing dreams. "You really ought to start learning how to use illusions."

"Illusions?"

"Yeah, I saw that you never even think about it before when I was poking around in your mind. Which is weird seeing as all normal zoruas usually only think of evolving so that they can wield powerful illusions."

"How do I use them then?" I huffed.

"How would I know? Didn't you read that first part of my doctor's note? It's a kind of feeling, you just do. I can't make illusions so I don't know how an 'illusion fox' would do it."

"Stop calling it a doctor's note. It's more of a challenge letter than a doctor's note."

"Aw, I'm flattered but we both know that I wouldn't be able to beat you in a straight fight. You being a dark-type and all that."

Of course, the moment he said that, I lunged at him with a Night Slash. Just when I thought it was going to make contact, he clapped his paws together. Suddenly, what I could only describe as a magical shockwave pushed me back. I would afterwards learn that he used Fake Out to negate my attack.

"How predictable. I didn't even need to read your mind to know that you were going to do that. Additional violent tendencies… I was correct, was I not? I should warn you though. It is unwise to pick a fight with me. After all, the level difference between us is almost twice your age. I said I won't be able to beat you in a straight fight- but if it's a street fight you want, there's no way I'm going to lose."

"You know, you can be such an asshole sometimes." He laughed in reply.

"I'll take that. I've heard worse than that before." He then turned around and walked back towards the campsite.

"Something wrong?" I heard Lynk say as he appeared by my side.

"That cat just basically called me an asshole in the most long-winded way possible," I replied, still staring at the retreating figure of the feline.

"Let me guess, he did something he called doctor's note or psychological analysis?"

"Yeah. Did you get the same treatment?"

"Yep. Not long after I met him. You've got off lightly. He told me that I'm a 'bitch, through and through, except on the physical level'." I stared at him for a bit before lightly placing a paw on his head and rubbing it.

"I suddenly have newfound respect for you for being able to stay with him for this long."

"If it's any consolation, he said that he only does it to people he considers very close."

"If this is how he treats people who are close to him, I'd hate to see how he'd treat his girlfriend." That got a laugh out of him.

"True. I bet the perfect relationship for him is basically mind-melding with another female psychic."

We laughed together all the way back to camp, not even caring if Dee read our minds once we arrived. Let him know.

Later that day, I found myself in quite the situation. Lucia was begging Altair and she was asking me to help her. Of course, at first I thought I'd fell asleep and was dreaming since I could never see Lucia bowing to Altair, let alone prostrate herself.

"Please!"

"But it's quite troublesome…"

"I promise it won't be! Please, it's just a few days!" she continued begging.

"But…"

"Our food supplies are running low, too, right? We can also use the time to restock our supplies and freshen up. Don't tell me you aren't at least looking forward to a hot shower."

"Hm… It's quite out of the way though," he replied.

"It's only for a few days. We have all the time in the world, don't we?" she then turned to me and I nodded. After a few tense moments where Altair seemed to be thinking hard, he finally gave his reply.

"Fine. But we're only looking after your cousin for two or three days at most, all right?"

"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she screamed, hugging him around the waist and getting her clothes covered in dirt from the ground.

"I have a feeling things are about to get a little interesting around here…" Fane appeared by my side.

"Same." So did Dee.

"Do you have a feeling or do you actually know?" I asked him, pretty much knowing the answer already.

"I'm sure you can guess."


	9. Chapter 9

You are feeling very sleepy… Veery sleepy…

Just kidding. But maybe you are actually feeling very sleepy, hearing me tell my story to you for hours on end? What are you feeling right now? Contented? Angry at someone? Lazy? I'm feeling quite relaxed right now, being beside my master and you two, my family. You might not know that since I'm always looking like this, aren't I? Which brings me to this: How good are you at reading other people's emotions and how aware are you of your own?

They say that only a tiny part of communication is done by language, a lot of it is done by facial emotions and body language. But what happens when they _don't_ show emotions? Or rather, they can't? Of course, this makes communicating with them quite difficult, as I'm about to tell you…

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Here we are!" Lucia exclaimed as we approached the front door of a rather average house in the city that we had spent hours walking towards.

"So this is the place?" Altair sighed as he sat on the doorstep.

"Lucia!" The door burst open and a woman ran out to hug her. A man followed behind. "It's so good to see you!"

"Same here!" Lucia smiled in reply.

"We'll be gone for just a few days, a week at most, please take care of Leah for us," the man said to her.

"No problem! I've been looking forward to seeing Leah for a while now!"

"We're glad to hear that. I'm sure she wants to see you too." The couple smiled. "Now, we should get going. Take care, Lucia!" They picked up some of the bags from just inside the door and walked away, giving us a wave.

"So… who's Leah?"

"My cousin. She's the cutest little angel, wait 'till you see her!" Lucia squealed and ran inside. "Leaaah!"

"I guess a shower wouldn't hurt," Aarick grunted.

"Amen." And thus, we walked into the house.

"So here's the entrance hall. Leave your shoes there," Lucia pointed to a little shelf on the side. She then ran up the stairs at the end of the hallway and I followed her up, careful not to trip on them.

"Leaaah! I'm here!"

"Lucia…" a rather indifferent voice replied to the energetic exclamation. I reached the top of the stairs to see Lucia happily hugging a small girl. The girl looked… She looked rather bored – No, she looked like nothing. I couldn't read her emotions at all, which felt weird as everybody always has some kind of feeling showing on their face. Take Lucia and her giant smile, for example.

I couldn't tell if Leah was happy or annoyed by Lucia's excessive hugging and head-patting her like she was a small animal. She just stood there in her white one-piece dress, staring at me. Feeling rather awkward, I gave a little wave before going back down and finding the living room.

Not much went on afterwards, the humans unpacked and we all relaxed in front of the TV in the living room. Because of the rather cramped living space, they decided to not let others out of their ball so I was the only Pokémon in the house. Bedtime came for Leah and we followed not long after, tired from all the walking and satisfied from a hot bath.

"I'm going to a friend's house; I'll be back tomorrow morning. I trust that you can take care of Leah and Luna for half a day?" Lucia spoke to Altair the next day while making lunch. "Just make her dinner and put her to bed. She's a pretty low-maintenance kid."

"Yeah, of course. Have fun!" was the reply from him. Lucia didn't take me with her, probably because she wants me to keep an eye on them, and so I was left with the two idiots and Leah. The little girl spent most of her days being silent, watching television and sleeping on me. It was peaceful, that's for sure. Dinner came and went with Altair serving yet another dish of disgusting slop. It was one of the few moments that made me glad I had my Pokémon food to eat instead of the human-cooked dishes. Interestingly enough, Leah managed to finish her plate without complaining once.

The peaceful times ended that night though. We were all in front of the television after Altair had put Leah to bed about an hour ago. Just as we were growing tired and contemplating going to bed ourselves, the door to the living room opened.

"What's the matter, Leah?" he asked, still looking at the TV. I looked over to her and saw her on all fours, looking very sick. The moment I jumped up from the floor, she threw up. "Leah? Leah?!" All of us were quite startled.

The girl tipped over and lay on her side on the floor, throwing up. "Oh shit, Aarick, what's happening? What do we do? Is she dying?!"

"Hospital."

"Right, we need to get her to the hospital. I think I saw it while coming in. Luna-" I nodded before he even asked me. Carefully, I slid my hands under her and lifted her up. Her body was pretty warm and upon touching, her head was scorching hot; yet I could feel her frail body shivering like she was freezing.

"This way." I followed them outside and through the streets at a hastened pace, she was gripping onto me like her life depended on it. We would've reached the hospital faster but we had to stop because Leah started vomiting again. As soon as we reached the hospital, the staff came running over and helped her onto a gurney and wheeled her off while we were sent to the waiting room.

"Lucia's gonna kill me. Lucia's gonna kill me. Lucia's gonna kill me…" Altair was chanting to himself, looking very stressed out.

"Bro, chill. I doubt it has anything to do with us. It probably would've happened even if she's here." That calmed him down a bit and we waited in silence. I fell asleep but woke up once the doctor has finished his diagnosis of Leah.

"How is she?"

"Good news. It's just a case of food poisoning. Do you know if she's eaten anything bad recently?"

"Uh… I might have an idea."

"Regardless, it should pass within a day or two. Just make sure she gets rest and drinks lots of water. She won't have much of an appetite for anything but make sure she eats something, preferably bland food. I've arranged a room for her to stay in but I'm afraid she will have to leave tomorrow morning."

"Understood. Thank you very much, doctor," Altair gave a little bow. "And the… cost?"

"Oh, no, it's free. We pride ourselves in having free healthcare in this city." The doctor smiled and walked away, giving a little wave.

"So… It _was_ your fault… Damn," Aarick mumbled.

We all went to her room after asking the receptionist where it was. The room was dark and she seemed to be sleeping. Not wanting to disturb her, we all quietly settled down for the night.

The next morning, we were woken up by the nurse who brought in Leah's breakfast. It consisted of a glass of water and some buttered bread. She sipped the water and slowly nibbled on the bread; we were finally able to leave after she finished half of it and claimed she was full.

"So I leave you for half a day and my little cousin ends up in hospital?!" she yelled at the two idiots. We arrived back at the house to find Lucia angrily waiting on the doorstep. After entering the living room, she demanded an explanation and blew her top when she received it. Her rant did not last long and she sunk into the sofa. "It's my fault, I guess. I totally forgot you can only cook up poison."

"Sorry," Altair meekly replied.

"Whatever, I'm going to go see Leah." She went to the kitchen to get a glass of water and brought it up to Leah's room. I stood behind her as she knocked on the door. "Leah? Can I come in?"

"Mm," was the only reply. And so we entered. Leah was sitting up on her bed and reading a book. I couldn't tell whether she still felt sick or if she had already recovered.

"Hey. I brought you some water."

"Not thirsty."

"You need to drink some. At least take a few sips." Lucia held it to her mouth as she took a sip of the cold water. "Are you hungry?" Leah shook her head. "Tired?" Another shake. "How are you feeling?"

"Cold. Headache."

"You need to get some rest, Leah. You'll get better in no time." She took away the book and placed it back on the bookshelf before turning off the lights. "If you need anything, I'll be in the living room."

"How's she?" Altair asked as we entered the room.

"She's getting better, I think. Still doesn't have much of an appetite though."

"That's good."

"Yeah. Did Luna not say to you that your food sucked and that you should never cook again before?"

"Well…" he looked off to the side, "She did…"

"You should've followed her advice."

"Sorry."

Lucia retired to bed early that night, saying that she had a headache from everything that happened. I wanted to go sleep in her room and make her feel better but it seemed like either she didn't anyone to enter her room or she forgot that I was still outside and locked her door. Thus, I decided to sleep in the brothers' room to keep an eye on them in Lucia's stead.

"'Night, Luna. 'Night, Aarick."

"'Night." The light was turned off but my vision barely changed as I had the ability to see in the dark. I don't know how others do it but this ability made it somewhat difficult to fall asleep as I've always felt that it is too bright to sleep. It took me quite a while to fall asleep, as normal, so you can guess how I felt when I was rudely woken up in the morning when I haven't slept my fill yet.

"L-Leah?!" Altair shrieked. I thought about giving him a piece of my mind before what he said registered. What was Leah doing in the room? I looked around groggily and saw Aarick was gone and Altair was staring at the lump on the bed next to him. The lump gave out a cute moan and shifted around. "What are you doing in my bed?!"

"Nightmare," came the quiet whisper. "Cold."

"Why didn't you go to Lucia then?"

"Locked."

"Oh, right. I guess Luna did say as much," he sighed. "Well, I need to get up now." He lifted the covers off them both before shrieking yet another time. "Why are you naked?!"

"Hot."

"I thought you said you were cold!"

"I was."

"P-Put some clothes on already!"

"It's in my room." The next moment came as a sudden as a knock sounded on the door.

"Altair? Are you okay? I heard you screaming in there."

"She's going to kill me!" he hissed to himself.

"Are you okay?" Lucia repeated.

"Uh… Yeah! I'm okay, I'm fine!"

"Have you seen Leah? She wasn't in her room this morning."

"Uh…"

"I'm in here," Leah spoke up just loud enough for her to hear.

"Leah? What are you doing in there?"

"I slept with Altair."

"O-Oi! Don't say misleading things!" Altair panicked.

"WHAT?!" The previous knocks on the door turned into loud bangs. "Open this fucking door right now!"

"You're misunderstanding, Lucia!"

"Open the door!"

I took this moment and stood up, moving over to the door.

"Don't open it, Luna. Please!" I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. Who was he to tell me what to do?

"Open it, Luna!"

I gave the boy a little wave before unlocking the door. Instantly, it burst open and Lucia stomped into the room. She saw Altair. She saw Leah, who was fully naked, hugging him. And she saw that they were both on the bed. She took out her phone.

"Since I once thought you were a decent human being, I'm going to give you five seconds before I call the police on your pedo ass."

"It's not what you think. Leah had a nightmare and you locked your door so she came into my room. She was hot so she took off her clothes in her room before coming here and- and she did sleep in my bed but I was asleep the whole time and all that so we didn't do anything. Aarick probably woke early and went out and locked the door from outside so you couldn't get in or something!" He explained all that in one breath before leaping onto the floor and performing the most magnificent groveling form I've seen. "Please don't kill me!"

Lucia glanced over to me and Altair stared at me with an effective display of 'puppy eyes' which, to this day, I still had no idea how he managed. Under both stares, I considered disagreeing with Altair but the strength of those begging eyes increased once he saw me hesitating. Finally, I gave in and shrugged. Lucia then looked at Leah, who was still naked and watching them.

"Hungry."

"Leah, is what Altair said true?"

"Mm," she nodded. "Nightmare. Scary and hot and cold."

"See? I told you it was a misunderstanding." Lucia sighed.

"You refused to open the door. Both of you were in bed, Leah is naked and your dick is hard. What was I supposed to think?"

"Th-That last part is natural! It's a natural thing that happens in the morning!" he sputtered. "I think that you should trust that Luna is keeping me in line!"

"Maybe I should. Whatever." She turned around and walked out. "I'm going to make breakfast. Leah, go put some clothes on."

"Okay…" the girl mumbled and walked out. After they left, Altair let out a big sigh.

"She hates me now if she didn't before. And she probably still thinks I'm a pedo. What should I do, Luna?"

I pondered for a second before going over to the table across the room to pick up a ball. I gave it to Altair.

"You want me to let D.C. out?" I nodded and he complied.

"'Sup?" Dee greeted.

"I need you to tell Altair something."

"Oh? You're going to roast him again, are you? I'm cool with that. What should I tell him?"

"You know what? You read my mind and tell him what I'm thinking because I can't be bothered."

"Fine by me." He then looked over to the human male. "Let's see… Luna thinks you're an asshole."

"Of course she does." He rolled his eyes.

"That's not all. She doesn't trust you so she wants you to stay away from Lucia. I quote, if you make any attempts to close the distance between you two romantically, I will personally castrate you," the cat shivered. "I'd take her seriously if I were you. I mean, have you seen those claws of hers?"

"What have I ever done to you, Luna?" he moaned.

"You did hit her in the face with a solid, metal sphere. You should never hit a girl's face, you know?"

"Then what do I have to do to earn her trust?"

"Hm… She says that you'll have to cross her cold, dead body before you can be with Lucia."

"Give me a break!" he exclaimed and left.

"Good job," I told Dee and he gave me a high-five.

"I guess I get to stay out like this for a while at least. Nice to stretch out my legs once in a while." He then performed a few stretches and looked quite content.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

That night, I had a great dream.

"Are you all right, princess?"

I looked up and saw my father smiling at me. He was standing up, no longer confined to that cushion and room.

"Daddy!" I exclaimed, jumping up on my bed and instantly nuzzling him. It did feel quite weird since I was several times his size, being a zoroark and all.

"What's wrong?" he laughed, "You seem more affectionate than usual today."

Of course. I haven't seen you for over a decade. I haven't talked to you in forever. I wished to speak to you every single day. That was what I wanted to say but nothing came out of my mouth. I was so happy that tears started falling. He didn't see my face but he knew instantly.

"Is something troubling you, Luna?" he sounded concerned as he asked, "You can talk to me. Daddy will help you." I could only sob further as he spoke. He hushed me and consoled me for a while as we remained like that.

"You look great, Luna. Evolving has made you even more beautiful and I'm so proud of you."

"Daddy… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I said to you." He smiled, seemingly having understood what I meant.

"Oh, princess," he whispered lovingly as I sobbed. "You-"

He didn't get to finish the sentence and I won't ever know what he was going to say since I woke up. It seemed as if I had cried myself awake. I know, pathetic, right? I am a grown up but I'm still dreaming about my father. Still daddy's little girl. But I don't care what others think; he's my father and I love him.

Anyways, part of me wanted to fall back asleep and somehow prayed that I could continue my dream from where it left off but another part of me, that was awake, sensed something wrong in the room. I was sleeping in Lucia's room and she hadn't locked the door like the night before just in case Leah had another nightmare.

The disturbance came in the form of a moving person. At first, I thought it was Leah with another nightmare crawling into bed Lucia's bed but looking carefully, I realized that it was not so. It was, in fact, Aarick. I waited to see what he was doing and suddenly saw that he was slowly taking off Lucia's nightwear.

I was about to jump up and claw him to death when Lucia seemed to have woken up. The girl realized what was going on and screamed bloody murder. Everything happened so fast I couldn't remember it all so forgive me if I miss out on some details. Lucia screamed, Aarick panicked and tried to keep her quiet. Altair burst into the room and turned on the lights. Leah groggily stumbled over from her room.

"What's going on?! 'Rick, why are you in here?"

"H-He tried to rape me!" Lucia screamed, tears forming in her eyes. Poor girl, she seemed frightened out of her mind, which was understandable.

"What? N-No I wasn't," Aarick protested but to no avail. Altair looked conflicted. All the evidence was there but he couldn't believe that his twin would do such a thing.

"Lucia, calm down. Maybe you misunderstood-"

"Yeah! I think you're misunderstanding."

"You were clearly taking off my clothes while I was asleep!"

"Calm down, Lucia-"

"Fuck both of you! Both of you are criminals, I knew it! I don't have to deal with this, I shouldn't have come with both of you in the first place. You know what, I'm leaving! Fuck you!" That was the last straw. She jumped up and ran out the room, leaving them all stunned. I snarled at Aarick before running after her.

We ran and ran. Without a destination and without rest for however long. For all we know, we could be going around in circles but she didn't care. All she wanted was something to occupy her mind until she forgot what happened. She didn't care that she left all her belongings behind. She didn't care that she left Leah behind with them. She also didn't care that she was running away in her nightwear, barefooted and all she had left was me. Finally, she got tired and slowed to a walk.

"Luna." I looked at her and gave a little affectionate growl in response. "You're always with me right? Always on my side?" I hugged her to let her know that that will always be the case. "Thanks. You're the best."

We walked on and found ourselves in an unknown part of town but still we did not stop. At least, not until someone else stopped us. They appeared from an alleyway beside us and, if we weren't in such a tense situation, I would have laughed out loud at their appearance. They looked like they embodied the cliché of gangsters. Only leather jackets covering their top, chains, spiked bracelets, punk hairstyle. Everything you'd expect to see on a gangster or a punk in a cartoon. Even the way they spoke.

"Hey, little girl. What ya doin' out in the middle of the night 'ere?"

"Damn, she cute," another one said.

"It's about time we score a nice piece of tail, 'ey?"

I was about to step up and tell them that they should back off with my claws but my body wouldn't obey me. I told my limbs to move but they wouldn't and I couldn't understand why. That confusion soon cleared up when I looked down at my body.

Ever been stabbed? I wouldn't recommend it. Though our bodies may be stronger than humans and regenerate faster and easier, you can't really recover instantly from being stabbed with a knife. I felt my fur being matted down by the dark red liquid and a human voice from behind me: "Night, night, dog."

I wanted to tell him that I was not, in fact, a dog but a variation of a fox. Of course, that wasn't of very high priority on my things to do then. I collapsed as my vision darkened and felt myself being pulled into the alley. Lucia saw me and was about to scream my name when the punks attacked. They clasped her mouth shut as some of them held her still and another one pulled out a roll of duct tape. They taped her mouth and taped her hands together. Still, she was still kicking will all her strength until they lifted her by the legs and head like a piece of baggage and brought her into the alley with me, away from any street lights so no one would be able to see what they were doing, if anyone was even out this late at night.

They left me slumped against the wall, looking at Lucia who was staring back at me in despair. It was all I could do to stay conscious and I couldn't even move my arms, let alone stand up and fight them. I thought about how unlucky we were, how bad things keep happening when we're in this city and how I wanted to leave this city as soon as possible before either of us loses our mind.

She was screaming incoherently under the tape, but her throat was already sore from shouting at the twins back at the house. How unlucky was she? First Aarick and now these guys want to rape her? Or maybe she was just that beautiful and cute that everyone wanted her? A loud smack resounded and her screaming stopped.

"There's a lot more where that came from and if yer smart, you'll shut the fuck up." She nodded, tears falling from her eyes again.

Have you ever had a dream where something bad happens and you're frozen, helpless to stop it? I can tell you firsthand that the real thing is ten times worse than the dream. I was there, lying against the wall, watching helplessly as they undressed her. Her bare skin came into view before it was blocked by the leather jackets of the punks who were lowering their pants.

Suddenly, one of them was blown away by some unknown force. Everybody stopped and stared at the guy, who went limp as he hit the wall. While my head was in a haze, I could still sense dark energy being used. It felt like a Shadow Ball.

"Get away from her!" Mustering my strength, I was able to turn my head and saw the two idiots. It must've been Aarick, the idiot who've made a contract with that gengar, who launched the attack. Altair grabbed a large, sturdy-looking stick from a pile of rubbish and charged towards them with a loud yell.

Idiot. That was what I wanted to yell. You're not in a movie, you're not in some kid's anime and you sure as hell aren't the main character. You're not guaranteed to live, you know? You're not immortal. Yet something about him throwing away his safety in order to help Lucia, when I couldn't, touched me. It reminded me of a quote someone said to me before: A man will forsake everything for who he loves. That idiot, this is cheating. I can't hate you if you do this.

I must've felt a little more relaxed at the sight of the two of them since I fell unconscious and the next thing I knew; I was being shaken awake. I noticed that I was still in the alley and sounds of fighting could be heard. Small explosions confirmed that it was Aarick who had used his newfound power to fire Shadow Balls. The one who was shaking me was Dee. He looked extremely agitated.

"Thank the heavens! Luna, stay with me. Don't go to sleep, stay conscious! I'm going to help you!" His spring-green eyes started to glow, showing that he was using his psychic powers. Slowly, I felt the strength stop leaving my body. Neither of us knew medical knowledge so I guessed he just crudely used his powers to stop the blood from exiting my body. I felt a slight bit better but still a long way away from being normal.

"Lu-Lucia-" I gasped. What had become of my master? But the instant that name left my mouth, he glared at me angrily.

"I don't care about her. I don't care about anyone else and neither should you! All that matters is that you have to be okay! Save your strength and don't speak or move, your wellbeing is all that matters," he growled. I was at the same time flattered but also concerned. What did he mean when he said I'm the only one that matters? What about Lucia or his master? My eyes started to droop again but he slapped me awake. That happened a few more times until I heard the fighting stop.

"Lucia! Are you all right?!" Altair exclaimed as he ran over to the half-naked girl, taking off his jacket to put it over her.

"The police are here," Aarick said to nobody in particular. I felt so relieved that I once again sunk into unconsciousness. Even Dee's constant slapping couldn't keep me awake.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

This time, I awoke in what looked to be a room in the Pokémon center. My ears told me that only one other person was in here. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Dee, holding a bottle of human liquor with half-lidded eyes.

"You're still asleep aren't you?" he sighed as he took another drink. "I understand that. Too many things happened, after all." I decided that dealing with a drunk cat was too much trouble and pretended to still be asleep, letting him talk to himself in his drunken stupor.

After a few minutes of silent drinking later, he spoke again.

"I met her when she was a buizel." I was confused. Who was he talking to and who was he talking about? _What_ was he talking about? "She saw me and I fell in love with her. Our names were even similar, Zephyr and Safire. Like fate, right?" he laughed. Zephyr? Was that his real name? "I stayed by her and my excuse for that was that I helped her train, like she wanted to, and she evolved into a beautiful floatzel in just a few months." He stopped to drink.

"I only told her I love her after she evolved. And then she told me she loves me back. I thought it was a dream or somethin'. But it was real. We lived together, played together, ate together for years. You know, I might not look it now but I was one of the most popular cat back then. Females would come and ask me to copulate and give them my babies, saying it was fine even if I wasn't there to look after them." My opinion of him dropped to rock bottom. I'm sure my opinion would not just drop to rock bottom but would grab a shovel and start digging deeper if he said he complied.

"I refused them. After all, I have her. I have Safire, my beautiful floatzel. One day, she said something I would never forget. She wanted to have children. I had my doubts, telling her I wasn't sure if I'd be a great father but she wouldn't have any of that. In the end, she convinced me. I'd do anything for her. It's embarrassing to admit but you're sleeping after all," he laughed slightly and hiccupped before drinking some more. I was starting to get worried that human alcohol might have long-term effects on him. "I didn't even last a whole minute under those two tail of hers. It was my first time with my first love; it was also her first but I think she was disappointed in how quick it was."

Now it got really weird and awkward for me, hearing him say this out loud.

"We did it together again and Saf got pregnant. We were so happy together. Out came a pair of twins, though not identical. A zorua and a buizel, my little boys." I was really confused then, how did a meowstic and a floatzel produce a zorua? Was it mutation or something?

"They were adorable. Every day was fun with Saf and the kids. But that was not meant to be. My bloodline is cursed with misfortune, I heard. You can't be popular without having people who hate you, some shallowly but others hate you from the deepest part of their heart. They came in the night. We told the kids to run away while we bought time. I had grown weak because of the peaceful days we had and I couldn't save Saf. I promised her I would take care of our kids and they killed her; they almost killed me too. I did the most selfish thing and ran away by myself. My world was turned upside down so quickly I was weak and dizzy for a while. I changed my name to D.C. I know, pathetic, isn't it? D.C., dizzy. I turned into a Meowstic. Now that I've changed my form and my name, I told myself I wouldn't let anyone know who I was. I didn't want what happened to Saf to happen to anyone around me again.

"Then. By sheer luck or misfortune, I found one of my boys. But the little zorua had had quite the troubling life himself. He was going to die soon. A short talk with him was the only opportunity I had. I watched him die." His voice started cracking up and I could imagine tiny tears flowing down his face. "I watched my boy die. He was slashed here," he put a soft paw on where I was stabbed, "and he bled to death." My brain started whirring, things seem too similar to what happened to my dad, from what I'd heard.

"No parent should ever have to live to see their child die, Luna. It's a fate I wouldn't wish upon even my greatest enemies. Even the ones that killed Saf. I wouldn't want even them to see their child die. I mean, you lose your future! I broke my promise to Safire, I couldn't look after my son. And what he told me. He told me he had a son and a daughter. He wanted me to find them and help his mate look after them. I promised him, and this time, I won't break it. I won't allow myself to break that promise," his voice filled with resolve. "I prayed to the heavens every day and every night for strength to protect them, to keep my promise to my son."

My opinion of him skyrocketed back up from rock bottom. He is righteous and he is good. He would do all he can to protect his family.

"That's why… That's why I can't let you die, Luna." Again, I was confused. How did that link in with what he just said? "I can't let you or Cloud suffer. Because I promised him. I promised Pyro I would take care of you two and I won't let you suffer any more. That's why I couldn't forgive those thugs who almost killed you. So-" he let out a few chuckles. Not of the funny kind but the kind people who've lost their sanity let out.

"So I killed them all."


End file.
